


The Redemption of Lief

by Drizzt_Do_Urden



Category: Deltora Quest - Emily Rodda
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Literature, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-15 20:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 51,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18506395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drizzt_Do_Urden/pseuds/Drizzt_Do_Urden
Summary: Have you ever read a typical fantasy story and wondered, what if the hero was raised by the Evil Overlord? Well, that is basically the premise of this fic.In this AU, Endon and Sharn caught by the Shadow Lord, resulting in Sharn being made infertile, and the Shadow Lord kidnapping Lief as a baby and choosing to raise Lief as his own kid.The result of THAT being that the Shadow Lord and Lief have a Mother Gothel and Rapunzel-esque relationship, albeit with less singing and more secret police work.Then Lief is assigned to kill Endon, only to discover the concept of love, which intrigues him so much he puts the murder off...and continues to put it off...





	1. Chapter 1

       Not long after the Shadow Lord took over Deltora, he demanded a census of all the pregnant women in the city of Del. This was due largely to the fact that King Endon's wife, Queen Sharn, happened to be pregnant at the time of the takeover. A pregnancy which happened to be rather inconvenient, as it had the potential of creating multiple heirs able to use the Belt; the one and only weapon which could truly oust him and all his servants.  
        So the decree was sent, and most of the pregnant Deltoran women obediently complied, having nothing to lose from not being Sharn, and a lot to lose from disobeying the new tyrant. The sole exception to this rule was Sharn, who had everything to lose from being herself. Thus she chose instead to hole herself up in the ancient forge of Endon's ancestor, Adin, seeing almost no one and therefore almost no one saw her. Except, of course, for her husband Endon, and Katie, the midwife they chose to look after her in the final days of her pregnancy.

      "You're quite young for a midwife," Sharn mused, staring at Katie's unlined face as she knitted a blanket and tried desperately to keep her mind off the pain of the contractions. "How old are you?" 

     "Twenty, Your Majesty," Katie said as she poured warm water into a bathtub. She'd decided that a water birth would be best for Sharn, as this was her first baby. "Although I have been helping to deliver babies since I was eight.  
      " _Eight_? That's impressive! Have you ever...wanted to do something else with your life?" 

       Kate shook her head. 

       "No, Your Majesty. Midwifery has always been my calling." 

        Sharn groaned. 

      "I envy your sense of purpose."

      "Does helping your husband to reclaim Deltora not give you a sense of purpose?" 

      Sharn glanced down at the floor.

      "Yes...but it's not like I chose to get married to Endon. That was all arranged for me-for _us_. I never so much as spoke to him until the wedding day. I...I love my husband, but...if I had a choice, I would never have become queen."

      "What would you have done?" 

      "Oh, anything. I would have traveled to Tora, the city of my ancestors. Became a weaver, or an actress, or a lion tamer, or anything other than arm candy for a figurehead. No, correction, for a puppet of the Shadow Lord."

      Katie stared at the petite, delicate queen, dressed in common work clothes, her pale, dark-haired beauty completely unadorned by any jewelry or makeup whatsoever. It was hard to picture the woman in front of her as anything other than a sheltered princess, even now. But Katie suspected that Sharn was the real strength behind her and Endon's marriage, that she was what kept everything going. 

       "Make no mistake," Sharn said. "I _will_ help Endon restore the Belt and overthrow the Shadow Lord. Because I have to. It's my duty. I can't let- aaah! The baby!"

       "Get in the tub," Katie ordered, "Now." 

       Sharn obeyed, and the next few hours, for her, were spent entering and changing into various birthing positions, screaming out in pain as the contractions got more and more intense, until finally, the baby was ready. Thus the process immediately turned into a series of pushing and Katie barking orders for Sharn to push, with Sharn snapping at Katie repeatedly, until, at long last, a beautiful baby boy popped out, and an exhausted Sharn fell into the tub on her side. By this time, Endon had already come home, bursting into the room, demanding to know what the noise was about. And then it was simply a matter of cleaning up the baby, then a bunch of baby-holding and declarations of love were exchanged. The plan had worked. 

      Or, it did, up to a point. For not ten months later, Katie ran into a problem. The Shadow Lord, being the tyrant that he was, had arrested her brother. Katie, having helped Sharn give birth, was in possession of knowledge that she could use to bargain for his freedom. And therein lay the problem. Ten months ago, she would have betrayed them without a thought. For generations, the royal family had been an ineffective, elitist institution that knew nothing and did nothing about the problems of the common folk, which instead spent all its time locked up in the palace.  But now, having come to know Sharn, she could see that this was only because the Shadow Lord had sent spies to manipulate and lie to the royals, and create a system designed to keep them from using their power for good. Not to mention, in the past ten months, Sharn had done nothing but help the common folk in every way she could, including and especially Katie. 

       Thus Katie was at an impasse. Did she let the royals atone for their mistakes, in the process allowing her best friend to live but her brother to die? Or did she turn Sharn and Endon in, saving her brother but dooming the entirety of Deltora? 

         In the end, she chose her brother.  Thus a contingent of Gray Guards burst into the forge when Endon was absent and kidnapped Sharn and her infant son, and brought them back to the palace, where Fallow, the Shadow Lord's right-hand man, awaited them.   
         Sharn upon meeting Fallow, couldn't help but laugh.   
        "Are you Prandine's replacement?" she asked. "Funny- I didn't think he needed replacing- seeing as you have no royalty to lie to anymore."  
        "And apparently you don't feel guilty in the slightest about pushing him out the window," Fallow replied.   
        "He was a traitor to Endon and to Deltora. Pushing him out the window was one of the greatest moments of my life."   
         Fallow smirked.   
         "He underestimated you. You're not quite the painted doll he wrote you off as."   
         "Guards!" he barked. "Take her to the sterilization room!"   
         "Is that a fancy way of saying you're going to kill me?" Sharn retorted as the guards began dragging her away.   
         "No," Fallow replied. "It's a fancy way of saying you can kiss any ideas about future children goodbye."  
         "Future...children?"  
          "We have no doubt Endon would mourn your loss, but eventually he'd find solace in the arms of another woman, and from that solace...another baby could be made."  
          Fallow cackled.  
          "So, instead we've decided to remove your womb and throw you back to your husband....where you two can have fun dealing with the consequences."  
          "You-you-!"    
           With that, the guards dragged Sharn off to her grisly fate.  Fallow then turned his attention to the baby.   
            Fallow raised his knife, smiled wickedly, and said:   
           "Farewell, little prince..."   
***  
       "It's time you came with me, Mr. Hamilton, " Lief said as he held a knife against the printer's throat. "I'm afraid your newspaper career is at at end."  
        The newspaper career in question was not very good, as few people in Del could actually read. Mr. Hamilton was, in fact, forced to support himself with a side business of smuggling alongside his real business. Not only that, but none of his readership, limited though it was, actually _liked_ the newspaper he sold, preferring instead the free-of-charge protest newspaper Lief was currently arresting him for.   
       "Y-you're him?" Mr. Hamilton stammered, disbelief at being arrested by a teenage boy mixed with sheer terror. " _You're_ the Bloodhound?"  
        The "Bloodhound" was the nickname the terrified citizens of Del came up with for a certain servant of the Shadow Lord who seemed to be able to find rebels at a glance and arrest people  the moment they expressed any rebellious sentiment at all. Most people were surprised to find out said Bloodhound was Lief. Especially since Lief was a lithe, dark-haired youth of sixteen as opposed to a terrifying combination of dog and man the rumors said he was. But rumors involving hideous monsters are rarely true, although sadly the scandals usually are.   
       "Yes," Lief replied nonchalantly, having gotten used to people's surprise at finding he wasn't a dog-man. "Although finding you didn't require reliance on a good nose so much as basic logic."  
        Well, that, and a disgruntled ex-wife. But Lief politely decided not to point that out. Some of his fellow servants of the Shadow Lord liked to gloat; Lief personally found that to be distasteful.   
           "There are only two people with a printing press in Del," Lief continued, as he escorted Mr. Hamilton out of his house and onto the street. "One of them is a six-year-old girl, or more practically speaking, her illiterate uncle. They're obviously beneath suspicion. Therefore, since you're the only other person with a printing press-"  
       "You're a teenage boy," Mr. Hamilton gasped, completely ignoring Lief's diatribe. "An ordinary teenage boy! You couldn't possibly be the Bloodhound! It's ridiculous! It's just..."   
       Lief scowled. Usually his suspects got over their surprise by the time they got out of the house and concentrated on their impending doom.   
       "People are always surprised at first," he said. "But still, you better _believe_ I was made by the Shadow Lord. I may look human, but I assure you I am not."  
       He led Mr. Hamilton over to the cart and withdrew the knife from his throat.  
       "Bit of advice," Lief added as he bound Mr. Hamilton's hands together, "Never assume that all things evil are ugly, or that all things good are beautiful. Foxgloves are a flower as well as a poison, and enemies can sometimes take the form of those you love most."   
         Lief then signaled to his pod of Grey Guards and ordered,   
         "Torch the place."   
         The Grey Guards nodded and obeyed, and Lief then put Mr. Hamilton in the cart. Lief then climbed in himself, knowing his pod would take care of the rest.  
       
        Once inside the palace, the guards took Mr. Hamilton to the dungeons, and Lief went up to the crystal room on the third floor, where Fallow and Dain awaited by the communication crystal sent into the table in the center of the room.  
       " I trust your mission went well, my son," the Shadow Lord's voice boomed from the crystal.   
        Lief bowed to the crystal and said,   
        "Yes, Father. Mr. Hamilton will no longer be attempting to rally the citizens of Del into action. He sits currently in a dungeon awaiting his execution."   
        "Good," the Shadow Lord replied. "For a defective Ol, you certainly have your uses."  
         It might be asked how a person that functioned as a scarily competent one-man secret police could ever be viewed as defective. Rest assured, the Shadow Lord was not critiquing Lief's detective skills, knack for finding just the right informants, tracking, code-breaking, and espionage abilities, or anything else pertaining to his actual job. No, Lief was defective because unlike the other Ols, Lief was not capable of shapeshifting, needed to eat, and had compassion for other people.  
         "Now, to other matters," the Shadow Lord said.   
        "Before we do, though," Lief asked, "May I...ask to be please be excused from watching the execution?"  
         Lief knew it was a pointless question, but Mr. Hamilton had been a nice guy prior to his arrest. If he wasn't a rebel, Lief would argue the man didn't deserve to die in the first place. But he rebelled against Father, and so Lief had to arrest him, nice or otherwise.   
         Fallow and Dain burst into laughter. Both of them being non-defective Ols, they not only were fully capable of shapeshifting, they also had no compassion for others.   
         "Is someone feeling sorry for the rebels now?" Fallow cackled.  
          As a matter of fact, Lief was, but he would never admit it, not to himself or to anyone else. There were two categories of rebels Lief had to arrest: the scumbags, which Lief took pleasure in sending to their doom, and the nice people, whose screams as they died gave Lief nightmares.   
         "Do you want to join him now?" Dain added, holding his stomach as he roared with laughter.   
         Lief blushed furiously and stammered,   
        "It's...not that I object to the application of Father's wisdom, it's just that...the headman has gotten...brutal in the last couple of years."   
        "Brutal?" Fallow mocked. "Awww... does little Lief get a tummy ache when the headman disembowels the prisoners?"   
        "Gentleman," the Shadow Lord mockingly chided from the crystal. "Do not make fun of the poor thing. He cannot help it. Unlike you two, he wasn't made a perfect Ol. He's defective, as you know. Unlike you, his wee little brain will never be to comprehend the fact that harsh punishment is necessary to keep the masses in line. And he'll never be strong enough to restrain himself from being nice to the enemy..."   
         Lief glanced down at the floor and said,   
         "I...I try, Father, but..."   
        "Hush," the Shadow Lord commanded. "It is time we turned to things other than your truly amazing defectiveness. Dain, it is officially time for you to find this Resistance in the West, and convince them you are Adin's heir. I have trained you well, and you should play the part beautifully."   
        Lief's eyes widened. _The Resistance_. From what he'd heard from the other Ols and Grey Guards in the palace, they were brutal. Dain might not exactly be civil towards Lief, but he was the closest thing Lief had to a brother. They'd come from the same batch of Ols in the Factory, after all. Which was a rather small similarity, to be honest- Dain was a normal Ol from the beginning, whereas Lief was a special albeit failed experiment. Still, Lief couldn't let anything happen to him; he couldn't.  
        "Father, I am not entirely sure it's safe for Dain to-" Lief blurted. "I mean, I believe this is an opportunity for my defectiveness to be an advant-"   
        "We have already discussed this, Lief," the Shadow Lord roared. "You are too weak and soft-hearted for this mission. It is true you would avoid detection at first, due to your inability to change form, but the moment they found your mark they would tear you to shreds in an instant. Not to mention, you know nothing of Endon, or the Belt. These are only a few of the many reasons I chose Dain over you. Though he has only three years to your sixteen of existence, he is already a master of shape-changing and deception. Whereas you...need I remind you that all it took for you to fall apart was for that girl Helena to put your hand on her chest? Or for that boy Hrid to call you handsome?"  
        Fallow and Dain roared with laughter once more. Lief blushed furiously and stammered,   
        "I...it never would have gone anywhere! I...I am loyal to you and only you, Father! I...I well know what would happen should I... _get involved..._ with a human."  
        Lief was not entirely certain what romantic involvement with a human consisted of; the Shadow Lord had never been clear on the details of what involvement... _involved_. He did know that involvement resulted in children, however.     
        "My mark would reveal itself all over your body, revealing the truth of your nature, and  causing your lover to go into a rage and kill you instantly," the Shadow Lord explained. "It is good you are aware of that, son, but you should not dare to question my orders so publicly. Unless, of course, you would like another scar to match the one on your right arm?"   
       "N-no," Lief replied, his left arm one of the few places left on his body that didn't hold a scar from the Shadow Lord's punishments.   
       "Good," the Shadow Lord replied. "Now, Dain, go and pack your things."   
       Dain nodded, bowed to the crystal, and left.   
       "As for you, boy," the Shadow Lord said. "I have another mission for you. After all these years of searching, we have found King Endon. Our spies saw him recently leaving Del for the Forests of Silence."  
        "The Forests of Silence? Why would he go there?" Lief asked.  
        "You recall that when I took over Deltora, I sent my Ak-Baba to scatter the seven gems of the Belt of Deltora all over the land?"   
        Lief nodded.   
        "One of the gems is in the Forests of Silence. We believe he is on a quest to recover the seven gems and restore the Belt so he can rule again. Your job is to go the Forests of Silence and kill him. Alone. You are not to take any Grey Guards with you. I trust you can do this."  
        Lief nodded.   
        "You can count on me, Father."   
        "Alright then," the Shadow Lord said. "Fallow, hand him the cloth and crystal."   
        Fallow obeyed, and handed him a piece of black cloth and a crystal.  
       "This cloth is to be tied around your face and worn at all times," the Shadow Lord explained. "It is absolutely _crucial_ that Endon must never see your face. The crystal is for communicating with me. To use it, touch it and ask to speak with me. Also, a side note- if you find he has any mistresses or girlfriends, feel free to kill them as well."   
       Lief tied the cloth around his mouth so that only his eyes were visible, and placed the crystal in his pocket.   
       "Understood, Father."  
       With that, Lief left the throne room in order to prepare for his journey to the Forests. Once Lief was gone, Fallow turned towards the crystal and asked,   
       "Does he know _why_ he's supposed to kill any and all royal mistresses?"  
       "He's not _that_ big a fool," the Shadow Lord responded, snorting in disgust. "He knows it's to prevent more royal heirs from being born."   
       "Are we ever going to tell him the truth of his origins?" Fallow wondered. "Or something near it? Or are we just going to keep torturing him?"   
       "Do I look like a fool?" the Shadow Lord growled.   
       "N-no," Fallow stammered, shrinking back from the crystal and cowering.  "Of course not. So...lifetime of torture it is then?"   
       "A lifetime which is soon to be cut short," the Shadow Lord announced. "The crystal, as you know, isn't really a communication tool. It's your friend Caspian. Who has been instructed to kill Lief upon completion of his mission."    
       
***  
         "What are you doing here?" Dain exclaimed as he caught Lief leading his horse out into the courtyard. "I thought the Bloodhound was only allowed to work within Del."   
         "Actually," Lief replied with a grin, "The Bloodhound has been ordered to track down Endon and kill him."  
         "Oh, really?" Dain said with a condescending smirk. "The master sent a defective Ol for such an important mission as killing Endon."   
          Lief gritted his teeth and replied,   
          "I may not be able to change shape, but that's not necessary in order to put a blade between a man's ribs."   
           Dain sighed.   
          "Fair enough," he said. "I just hope you won't get squeamish and run away at the last second."  
          Lief smiled, knowing this was about as much of a good-bye as he was going to get out of Dain, even though Lief had run hundreds of successful missions as the Bloodhound and never got squeamish. Usually. But even if he did, he always followed through.   
          "And I wish you good luck with the rebels," Lief replied.   
          Dain ignored the good-bye, instead choosing to spur his horse onward, leaving Lief in the dust. Ticked off, Lief rode off in the opposite direction, towards the Forests of Silence, unaware of the potential doom his mission had in store for him. 

            The Forests, much to Lief's dismay, did not appear to be nearly as deadly as they should be when they got there. No horrific monsters, nothing. This was, of course, because he was on the Wenn Del path into the wood, and the monsters known as the Wenn only roamed the wood during the day. It was still a very, very creepy place, but when the Shadow Lord is your father, other threats look tiny in comparison, and so it was with Lief. This continued for some time until he found a dark-haired, kindly-looking man using some sort of yellow liquid to heal a man on the ground, and a girl with tangled black hair gathering more yellow liquid from a bunch of lilies into a bottle. A scene which Lief would have thought nothing of had the dark-haired man not handed the girl a shiny topaz.   
        The wood then filled with a fine mist, and a sweet-looking, motherly woman with a smile on her face suddenly appeared.   
        "A-Anna?" the dark-haired man gasped.  
        "Mother?" the girl with the messy hair cried, her eyes tearing up.   
         "Jasmine," the woman said. "My dear girl. It's been so long."   
          "Y-you're dead," Jasmine pointed out, bursting into tears."  
          "Yes," the woman replied, stroking Jasmine's hair. "I am. That doesn't mean I don't love and miss you, though."  
"I am happy to see you again as well, Anna," the dark-haired man exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eye.  "I hadn't thought we'd see each other again after you and Jarred fled the city. "  
          The dark-haired man glanced down at the ground and added,   
          "Although...I wish you weren't dead."   
          "I wish that too, Endon," Anna replied. She then turned to Jasmine and said,   
          "Darling, you must go with him. He's not a bad person, not really."   
          "He let himself be manipulated for years and never did a damn thing to help his people," Jasmine countered.   
          "He did not know they were struggling," Anna informed her. "There was a spell around the palace walls creating an illusion of a prosperous city."  
            _A...spell?_ Lief gasped inwardly. _But Father said Endon was just too incompetent to see the poverty- he didn't mention a spell!  
          _"Yes," Endon added. "And according to the book, there's been a line of treacherous chief advisors going all the way back to King Elstred."  
            _Book? What book?_ Lief thought. _And Prandine acted alone, didn't he? Father never said anything about any of this.  
           _"We all deserve to be able to redeem ourselves," Anna continued, "To atone for our past misdeeds. Don't you think?"   
           "Yes," Jasmine sobbed. "I-I suppose."   
           "And besides," Anna added, "If you stay here and do nothing, life will continue on as before, and Deltora will still rot. Besides- life in the forest is not good for you. You need to get out, to see more people."  
           "Alright," Jasmine agreed, "I'll go with them. I'll...save Deltora, Mom."   
           "I'm so proud of you," Anna said.   
           It was this statement that truly shook Lief to his core. Parental pride was not something Lief had ever known to be possible. And it certainly did not come about via a mere promise. Lief had done more than promise his loyalty to the Shadow Lord- he had proved it over and over, by arresting rebels and becoming the terror of Del. But never once had the Shadow Lord been prompted to say he was proud of Lief. Which made sense- Lief was a defective Ol, after all...who would be proud of a _defective_ child?  
           The mist cleared, and Anna was gone, leaving a sobbing Jasmine and a sad-looking Endon, who placed the topaz into one of the steel medallions of the belt he was wearing. This action snapped Lief out of his reverie, as that gem, obviously being one of the seven gems of the Belt, reminded him why he was here and what he was supposed to do.   
         Lief drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at Endon's head. Before he could fire it and end both of their lives, however, Endon muttered to himself,   
         "The topaz has the power to open doors to the spirit world, right? Would've been nice if my son could've traveled through those doors."   
         Lief's jaw dropped, and he lowered his bow in shock.  
         Endon's son was a _baby_ when Fallow killed him. A _baby_. A useless, crying, more-trouble-than-it's-worth, _baby_. And Endon _still_ wanted that child when he could _easily_ make another-and might very well have.   
         If it hadn't been for the fact that Endon had evaded the Shadow Lord's spies for sixteen years, Lief would have attributed this to stupidity. But obviously, Endon wasn't stupid, or at least, he didn't appear to be. So why, why did he desire a useless, easily-replaced baby brought back from the grave?  
        The decision that Lief made next was a reckless, impulsive decision. If the Shadow Lord knew that Lief had deliberately delayed killing Endon to satisfy his curiosity, Lief would doubtless have been dead on the spot. Instead, Lief lowered the bow, and decided that he would let Endon and his friends live. For now. He'd keep a close eye on them, of course. Just to find out what made Endon so...strangely obsessed with his dead son. He'd kill them before they got the next gem, of course.   
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	2. Chapter 2

         A few days of spying on the trio later, Lief had learned absolutely nothing about Endon's preoccupation, and plenty about the other two companions. The man Endon had been trying to heal on the ground when they found the topaz was called Barda, and apparently he and Endon shared a past.   
         "I cannot believe I spent sixteen years feigning homelessness at your door and never realized you were the king!" Barda exclaimed. "W-why didn't you tell me, Ja- Your Majesty?"   
         "And put you in danger of being sniffed out by the Bloodhound?" Endon said with a grin. "Not likely."   
         "I would have kept your secret!" Barda fumed. "I'll have you know I used to be a palace guard! I...never would have betrayed my-"   
          Endon chuckled.   
         "Are you sure you could have kept yourself from blurting it out if you knew? Are you sure you wouldn't have gotten offended when I was treated me rudely and given us up?" Endon asked.   
          "I..." Barda stammered.   
           "And that is why Sharn and I kept our true identities to ourselves," Endon concluded. "We knew if we told anyone the Bloodhound would have come sniffing after us as."   
           Jasmine, apparently, had spent her life alone in the Forests of Silence ever since she was seven. And it showed, since her dearest friends were a rodent named Fili and and a raven named Kree.      This raven would later be the cause of some drama in the group.   
          "We're going to the Lake of Tears next?" Jasmine exclaimed once she heard of Endon's next destination. "We can't go there! Th-that's where the sorceress Thaegan lives! S-she eats ravens! Alive! Sh-she'll eat Kree! Sh-she ate Kree's entire family."   
         _She'll do far more than that_ , Lief mused to himself. Heavens, they would be lucky if the bird was the  _only_  one to die at the murderous Thaegan's hands.  
           "Who cares about your stupid bi-" Barda began, but Endon clamped his hand over Barda's mouth and said,   
           "I understand your reluctance, Jasmine. I, too, have loved ones left behind I worry for. Or rather, a loved  _one-_ my wife, to be specific _._  I'm afraid I'm also quite short on family as well, thanks to the Shadow Lord."   
         _Again with the dead baby_ , Lief mused to himself.  _Why does he care so much?_    
        "But we have to find the Ruby in order to save the realm," Endon continued, putting a hand on her shoulder. "If you want to go back to the Forests, I understand..."   
        "No," Jasmine said reluctantly, shaking her head. "I'm coming with you."  
        Thus the argument ended, and the adventure began.   
        A couple of days into the trio's travels, Endon, Barda, and Jasmine found themselves stopped at a bridge by a man with golden eyes and a curved sword.   
        "He's bewitched," Jasmine informed her companions. "Poor thing."   
        Bewitched or not, nobody was getting in Endon's way until he answered Lief's question. Lief drew his bow, prepared to shoot the troublemaker, but as the trio went forward, the man raised his sword as a warning, and said,   
       "You will not pass! Until you answer three questions! For I am the guardian of this bridge, set to guard it until truth and lies are one."  
         Endon, then, much to Lief's surprise,  _agreed_  to these nonsense terms, thus bringing about yet another question. Why? They had nothing to gain from humoring this fool, and much to lose. They should either kill him, or seek another path. Lief understood the need to avoid unnecessary violence- as the Bloodhound, he generally preferred less lethal means of apprehending rebels, something which had caused Fallow and Dain to mock him to no end, and the Shadow Lord to shoot him with lightning as punishment on many occasions. Tolerating people's nonsense, however, was not something he'd  _ever_  done.  
      Jasmine and Barda answered the first two questions, and were allowed to cross the bridge. The giant then said to Endon:   
 _"Thaegan gulps her favourite food,_ _In her cave with all her brood:_ _Hot, Tot, Jin, Jod,_ _Fie, Fly, Zan, Zod,_ _Pik, Snik, Lun, Lod a_ _nd the dreaded Ichabod._ _Each child holds a slimy toad._ _On each toad squirm two fat grubs._ _On each grub ride two fleas brave._ _How many living in Thaegan's cave?"  
     _"105," Endon replied, after some thinking.   
      "Wrong!" he said. "It's 106! Thaegan's favorite food is a live raven! And now you must die!"   
      "I didn't know that!" Endon sputtered. "Y-y-you are a liar and a trickster!"   
      "One last question," the man said. "The answer to which will determine the end of your life. If you answer true, you will be strangled. If you answer false, your head will be cut off!"   
       _No,_ your _life will end_ , Lief thought.  _Nobody kills Endon but me. And certainly not before I have my answer!_  
      Panicked, Endon touched the topaz, and then said,   
      "My head will be cut off."   
      Startled, the man's jaw dropped, and then Lief saw the cleverness of the former king's answer. It was both true and false at the same time, a paradox which would-   
     Cause the man to turn into a bird, apparently, because that was what happened. The bridge also began to crumble as Endon foolishly ran across it, but fortunately for both Lief and Endon, the bird came back and saved Endon from a nasty fall.   
      Lief himself scrambled to find another way across in order to keep up with them. By the time he did, he found Endon and Jasmine deep in conversation.  
       "While I am impressed that you managed to survive all those years by yourself in the Forests of Silence," Endon was saying, " I believe you may have missed out on a few things your parents unfortunately were not there to teach you."   
       "Oh?" Jasmine asked. "What things?"   
       "Things that concern what happens when a girl starts to turn into a woman," Endon explained. "You may have noticed, for example, that you bleed in a certain spot once a month or so-"   
        _Women bleed once a month_? Lief exclaimed inwardly.  _That can't possibly be-_  
       Barda, mortified by having to listen to such conversation, interrupted with,   
       "Your Majesty! Surely it is not appropriate to discuss such matters in-"   
       "When would it be appropriate?" Endon countered, chuckling. "When Jasmine is already heavy with child as the result of a love affair? There are things a young woman needs to know before entering mixed company, Barda."   
       "I know," Barda replied, furiously blushing. "But-"   
       "Mixed company?" Jasmine asked.   
       "A group composing of both men and women," Endon explained.   
       "But that would make me in mixed company already," Jasmine pointed out.   
        _Yes_ , Lief realized.  _She is. And she might very well be able to make children_...  
        Suddenly Lief saw the reason for Endon bringing up the topic. He wished to make a child with Jasmine! Why  _else_  would he bother explaining the process to her?   
        Other reasons a middle-aged man might explain romance to a teenage girl, such as the avoidance of scandal or venereal disease, completely sailed over his head. For after all, thanks to the Shadow Lord's lack of explanation on such matters, Lief knew only two things about romance- that it happened between men and women, and that it produced children. And thus Lief added Jasmine to his list of people to kill, erroneously concluding that she was  about to become Endon's mistress.  
      Before Endon could provide much-needed clarification, however, Jasmine then suddenly said,   
      "A pod of Grey Guards is coming this way. Quick, we need to hide!"   
      And with that, the trio climbed into a tree, and a pod of Grey Guards indeed arrived, with a captive man with grey-blue skin, a crest of red hair, and black button-like eyes.   
       "A Ralad," Barda whispered. "They've captured a Ralad."  
       What said Ralad was doing with the Grey Guards, Lief had no idea. He appeared far too small to be a rebel at all, let alone one that required an entire pod of Grey Guards. The sight reminded him of his own pod, causing Lief to wonder why the Shadow Lord insisted Lief kill Endon by himself. It would have been far more efficient with his pod in tow.   
        _Perhaps Father wishes to test me_ , Lief thought.  _He thinks I am weak, and wants me to prove my strength_.  
       The Grey Guards eventually made camp and fell asleep, and much to Lief's shock and dismay, the trio went to help the Ralad man, dragging him away from the camp and attempting to remove his chains, albeit in vain.   
        _The fools!_  Lief thought, eyes widened at the sight.  _Do they not realize they are outnumbered?_    
       Lief knew he was one to talk, seeing as in how in his early days as the Bloodhound, he had often thoughtlessly saved any number of people, including people he ought to have arrested. These actions were the reason behind many of the scars resulting from the Shadow Lord's punishments. But still- this was a much greater risk then mere physical agony- they might die, and jeopardize their mission. And Lief's as well, though they didn't know it. If they were taken out by a mere pod as opposed to Lief, they would not only die, but Lief's punishment for failing would be far worse than the punishments the Shadow Lord usually enacted. He might lose a limb, or worse, actually find himself at the Place of Punishment!  
     Lief drew his bow and nocked an arrow, ready to take down some Grey Guards if it meant saving his foolish marks. Which was good, because the Grey Guards eventually woke up, forcing the trio, alongside the Ralad man, to flee, and the Grey Guards to chase them in pursuit. Lief let loose a bunch of arrows in rapid succession, taking down a good chunk of the pod as the trio and the Ralad man thankfully escaped into the sweetplum bushes. Unfortunately, those were also the sweetplum bushes Lief was hiding in. Thankfully, the trio did not notice, as Barda and Jasmine were too busy attempting to remove the Ralad man's chains, and Endon was searching for food.  
      The Grey Guards eventually gave up searching for the trio, laughing as they walked away. To anyone else, that would have been odd, but Grey Guards were no more human than the Ols were, and shared their lack of compassion.   
      "Look!" Endon explained, pointing towards a cheery little house. "A house!"   
      In front of this house was a lawn, and in front of that lawn was a sign which said "Ring and Enter" and had a bell attached to it.   
      "Perhaps we can find some shelter there," Endon added.   
      "That seems like a marvelous idea!" Barda exclaimed.   
      "I don't know," Jasmine muttered. "Something doesn't seem right..."   
       Neverthless, the trio rang the bell and ran across the lawn, only to discover that it was a ring of quicksand. And for them to start slowly sinking into it.   
        Alarmed for his marks' safety, and frustrated at their inability to avoid danger for more than five seconds, Lief scrambled out of hiding to save them. Thanks to a large piece of wood Endon found, which helped them stay buoyant, and an elderly couple rushing from the house to drag them out, this was unnecessary.  
       As the trio were thanking the elderly couple, Endon glanced at the piece of wood and said,   
       "This says,  _Warning! Of Quick Do Not_. It appears to be a part of the sign we saw. Which means..."   
        "Warning, Ring of Quicksand, Do not enter," Jasmine and Barda realized in unison.   
        Endon, despite bringing it up, seemed to care very little about the whole thing, stupidly and happily walked into the house with the elderly couple, much to Lief's chagrin.   
       _Come on_ , he groaned to himself. Nobody  _trustworthy puts a bell on a broken quicksand warning sign!  
_       If any of Lief's targets back in Del had  _dared_  to be this untrustworthy, they'd have taken arrow to the chest in half a minute. What on earth were these people thinking?   
     Jasmine, to her credit, was wary about being in the house, but one could not say the same for her gentleman companions. Barda and Endon were only too happy to be escorted inside and sat down and by the elderly couple, who introduced themselves as Nij and Doj, names which Lief was certain were not real. They also spoke a very strange language, though, so Lief was just as uncertain as his marks were about the couple's intentions.  
     As uncertain as Jasmine was, that is. Barda and Endon seemed to be very confident that Nij and Doj had only their best interests at heart, happily making small talk while the couple went to bring them food and drink.  
     Jasmine, on the other hand, had no time for such things, and asked,  
     "Endon, do you still have the Belt?"   
      _That's the most intelligent thing any of you have said since this quicksand business began,_ Lief thought to himself.  _I like you, Jasmine. It's too bad you're Endon's mistress._   _I'd have liked to let you and Barda go after I killed Endon.  
_       Endon searched himself with his hands for a bit before sighing and saying,   
      "Yes. My goodness, the topaz is filthy. I think I ought to clean it."   
       _You're trapped in a house with two people who knew their house was surrounded by quicksand and not only didn't replace the broken sign, but put a bell on the it, and your first concern is_ cleanliness _!_ Lief exclaimed inwardly.  _Jeez, what do you need me for? You people practically assassinate yourselves!  
_      Nij and Doj brought back food and drink, and Barda began to drink out of the mug, and immediately fell asleep. Endon busied himself with cleaning the topaz, and not long after he finished cleaning it, a look of realization dawned on his face.   
     "We need to get out of here," Endon exclaimed. "They're not Nij and Doj, they're Jin and Jod- Thaegan's children! They plan to eat us!"  
       _Finally_ , Lief thought, you've got a clue-  _wait, what? Where'd you, oh- Nij- Jin. Doj-Jod. They've been speaking backwards the whole time!_  
     Endon glanced over at Barda and then placed both Barda's and Jasmine's hands on the topaz, and Barda immediately woke up. Endon explained the situation to Barda, and immediately the three of them devised a plan. A plan which namely consisted of pretending to be asleep, much to Lief's disappointment.   
     Lief, eager for a practical solution, readied his bow, prepared to shoot the nasty siblings to prevent them from getting to his marks. However, before he could do that, the bell rang, causing Jin and Jod-who now looked like hideous green ogres- to rush outside and save the newest victim of the quicksand. Whom, Lief observed, was the same Ralad man his marks had rescued earlier. The trio, observing this, immediately dropped their pretense and rushed outside to escape, only to realize that they couldn't go any further thanks to the quicksand.   
     The Ralad then rushed out of the house, apparently not any more deceived by Jin and Jod than Lief had been. Unfortunately, he was pursued by Jin and Jod, and so the trio rushed to his rescue, much to Lief's annoyance.   
       _That's it_ , Lief thought to himself, aiming an arrow at Jod and letting it fly.  _I've had more than I can stand of you two interfering with my mission.  
_       The arrow struck Jod straight in the chest, causing him to drop dead and leave. Jin barely noticed and continued chasing the Ralad. Lief aimed another arrow at Jin, let it fly, and she, too dropped dead.   
      The danger having passed, Endon, Jasmine and Barda all took deep breaths, glanced around, looking for the archer who killed Jin and Jod, almost finding Lief, but not. Then, after a bit of miming, the Ralad eventually somehow managed to lead the trio across a hidden pathway on the quicksand, amazing Lief.   
      _That's quite a bit of luck_ , he thought to himself.  _They couldn't possibly have known about the pathway-or even needed it in the first place._   _Unless... the topaz..._  
     The topaz had summoned Jasmine's mother back from the dead, and a few moments earlier, had given Endon the clue he needed to get out of that obvious trap. Perhaps... _it_  was what told them to save the Ralad, having foreseen this idiotic little venture of theirs.  
     Lief knew that the complete Belt had held the power to blast the Shadow Lord out of Deltora permanently, prior to Endon's foolish misuse of it, but he'd never figured the gems were at all powerful on their own. If the other six gems were as powerful as the topaz...Lief shuddered at the possibilities of a completed Belt.   
    Lief glanced back at his marks and the Ralad, who was, through drawing things in the dirt with a stick, was explaining to the trio that the sorceress Thaegan had, a century ago, turned a city called D'Or into the Lake of Tears. The Ralad's people had objected to this, and so Thaegan had cursed them to be unable to speak in retaliation for that.   
     Lief's eyes widened.   
      _Thaegan destroyed a city, and got away with that?_ he thought.   
     If the event hadn't obviously happened long before Endon's puny human lifetime could have started, Lief would have chalked it up to Endon's incompetence. But this level of incompetence from a king earlier than Endon, before Prandine ever could have  _entered_  Del? The Shadow Lord was  _right_. Deltora  _needed_  him to-  
     The ghost's words from the Forests of Silence came flooding back to him:  
    _There was a spell around the palace walls creating an illusion of a prosperous city.  
     _And then Endon's own words arrived not a moment after Anna's were done:   
    _There's been a line of treacherous chief advisors going all the way back to King Elstred-  
   _ Could it be that the Shadow Lord had tried to conquer Deltora for longer than Lief had thought? It was possible- he was immortal, after all. It was also possible, Lief was forced to admit, that Prandine hadn't been the only Ol impersonating a chief advisor. But the Shadow Lord had never  _once_  implied to him that their current rule was the result of a plot more than a couple of decades old. If that were true, however, than one of the kings prior to Endon would  _have_  to have caught Thaegan, as there would have been no Ols to lie to them and they couldn't all be as stupid as Endon had been. Then again, maybe they  _had_.   
    But if they were right...that meant the Shadow Lord had been manipulating the royal line long enough to have made them let Thaegan get away with destroying a city full of civilians...who had committed no crimes...  
    Before Lief could explore the idea that perhaps his father wasn't such a moral person after all further, he was suddenly tackled by the Ol he least expected to see in that particular situation-  _Caspian_.  
    Back when Lief was very young and still in training, and had yet to go through that strange, painful phase of slowly changing shape the Shadow Lord had assured him was sadly not the development of proper shape-shifting abilities, Caspian had filled a role that was akin to a much more incompetent version of Lief's own work as the Bloodhound, so much so that he was ridiculed by everyone in the palace. When Lief eventually took over Caspian's duties, and ended up doing them far better than Caspian, Caspian had decided to get revenge on Lief. Namely, this revenge consisted of half-assed murder attempts, and ended up being partially the reason Lief ended up getting a pod of Grey Guards.   
    And now, as ever, Caspian was trying to strangle him.   
     Lief expertly kneed Caspian in the groin, pried his hands away from his neck, and then kicked Caspian away from him.   
     "Attempt to kill me on your own time," Lief hissed to his fellow Ol. "I'm on a mission here!"   
     "No, you completed your mission," Caspian snapped. "When you killed Endon back at that house over there."   
     "Neither of those monsters was Endon, you fool!" Lief snapped. "That was Jin and Jod! The real Endon is-"   
      Lief glanced back at his marks, only to realize that they were gone.  
      "And now you've made me lose them!" he cried. "Splendid! Now go back home and try to be useful!"  
      "No," Caspian replied. "I've been ordered to kill you."   
      Lief's jaw dropped.  
     "What- no, why-"   
     "Did you actually think the crystal the master gave you was for  _communication_?" Caspian spat. "No, that was me. Waiting for my time to strike. Although..."  
      Caspian glanced around nervously.  
      "I didn't notice you trying to contact the master, or putting any gems into your pack, so...you're right. I guess I'll just...get back into gem form."  
      Lief's jaw dropped.   
      _Is he serious? Does he honestly think that I'll just let him back into my pocket after this? No wonder he was such a terrible Bloodhound.  
      _Lief sighed. He didn't like it, but, he was going to have to do it. He couldn't let Caspian run back to tell the Shadow Lord Lief had hesitated in killing Endon, or worse, that he had killed Grey Guards to save Endon.  
      Lief stood up, drew his sword, and in one clean motion, ran Caspian through with it. Caspian's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, Lief wincing as it did. Lief's job usually did not involve such a high body count-he mostly used his martial training to disarm opponents, a thing the other Ols took much delight in mocking him for. Any and all deaths mainly resulted in his marks being taken to the Place of Punishment, and if they didn't, it was because the target killed themselves in protest.  
    Lief wiped his sword clean, sheathed it, and began tracking his targets. The tracks led Lief not to a lake, but to a shining city, filled with happy, chattering Ralads, and strange, beautiful golden-skinned people. Confused, and distracted by all the beauty, Lief wandered around, trying to find the answer, until he at last spotted Endon, Jasmine, and Barda. There he saw that Endon had  _two_  gems on the Belt: a topaz and a  _ruby_.   
       They had defeated Thaegan, and gotten the second gem.   
      Damn Endon's obsession with his lost child. Damn his strange kindness to the Ralad man. Damn the many questions that needed answering. Lief had to kill Endon, and he had to do it now. Not only was it clear that the Shadow Lord didn't think he was up to the task, given that he'd sent _Caspian_ to murder him, but Lief had also clearly underestimated his marks. They had, against all odds, somehow managed to kill a sorceress and defeat whatever monster guarded the second gem, without Lief's help. If they gained any more gems, they stood a serious chance of hurting his father, and Lief couldn't let them do that.   
    Lief's hand went to his bow, but then he remembered that he was in a crowded area, full of people who probably didn't like the Shadow Lord very much, since none of them were trying to claim his targets. So instead he simply followed them out of the city and back onto the road, and once he and the trio had some distance from the city, Lief drew his bow, nocked an arrow and...   
    "Someone's following us," Jasmine said.  
      Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, including Lief. How could she  _possibly_  know he was there? When did she-  
       And then a net immediately fell upon the trio, successfully entrapping them and hindering their movement.   
        _Damn it_ , thought Lief as he lowered his bow.  _Which low-level fool is it this time?_  
       It was  _many_  low-level fools, apparently. A cadre of yellow imp-like creatures, mishappen green monsters, and two creatures covered in long brown hair, and , alongside a slimy red creature with bulging muscles, descended upon the net.   
      "So," the red creature said, "These are the people who killed our mother and siblings."   
       "Oh no," Barda gasped. "Thaegan's children."   
       "I'll take the biggest one's head and two legs," the red creature declared.   
        "That's no fair!" demanded one of the green-skinned goblins. "You're such a hog, Ichabod!"   
        " I'm the oldest," Ichabod declared. "I get to eat the most!"   
         "No you don't!" another creature exclaimed. "We all have to share equally."   
           _You'll share these_ arrows _equally_ , Lief thought as he raised his bow and shot one of the yellow-skinned creatures in the head. The creature collapsed onto the ground, dead, much to the shock of the rest of the creatures.   
         "Someone killed Hot!" one of the imps nearest the corpse cried. "Somebody up-"   
          Lief loosed another arrow, and the creature fell down dead.  
          "Tot's dead too!" cried one of the creatures covered in brown fur. "Which one of you-"  
          "Who cares?" cried a green creature that appeared to be comprised of nothing but lumps. "More for the rest of us!"  
          This statement caused Jasmine to break out into a mischievous grin.   
           "Yes," she agreed. "More for the rest of you. Especially- dare I say it-  _Ichabod_."   
           "Mine!" cried a green creature with fangs as it reached for Endon. The lumpy creature pushed it away.   
            "No, mine!" it cried.   
             "I'm the oldest!" Ichabod cried. "I get first pick!"   
             Chaos quickly ensued as the children of Thaegan jostled each other to get at the trio, none of them succeeding. In the midst of it, Jasmine set herself to sawing at the net with her daggers, assisted by her rodent, Fili, who happily began chewing upon the net as well. Lief also capitalized upon this distraction, loosing arrows into various children of Thaegan when convenient, until all the creatures were dead save an arrow-riddled Ichabod. Who, upon realizing all his siblings were dead, and, upon finding himself staring at a freed trio with weapons drawn, slunk off to nurse his wounds.  
             Lief aimed his bow once more at Endon, and the trio sheathed their weapons and continued walking.   
            "Well, that was a close call," Barda said with a chuckle.  
            Jasmine scowled.   
            "Indeed. But it's not over yet. Someone's still following us."   
            Endon glanced down at the Belt.   
            "Maybe. But the ruby's full now,so it's probably nothing," Endon said.   
           _Probably nothing?!!_  Lief had an arrow nocked and ready to fire at him! Of course, he'd had a bow aimed at Endon multiple times over the past few days, but still...  
          "Maybe it's just the same person who shot Jin and Jod while we were escaping," Barda suggested. "And those Grey Guards. And Thaegan's children just now. If so, they're probably a friend."  
           Lief rolled his eyes.   
           _Not exactly the brains of the group, are, we Barda?_  he thought sarcastically.   
           "Or, maybe those arrows were intended for  _us_ ," Jasmine countered.   
          _Clearly, that role belongs to Jasmine,_ Lief added.   
         "But if they were," Endon said. "The ruby ought to pale. But it hasn't, so we're not in any danger. Maybe we should just respect our mystery ally's privacy and move on."   
         _You_ are _in danger!_  Lief thought to himself.  _From_ me _!_  
        Unconvinced, Jasmine glanced around in Lief's general direction, unsheathed a dagger, and threw it at him. It missed, just glancing off of Lief's hand, but it caused him to reflexively fire the arrow into the ground right near Jasmine's foot.   
         Jasmine glanced around, searching for Lief, but not finding him.   
        "You're good," she shouted. "I'll give you that. But time's up. We already know you're here. Just come out and face us."   
          _And what makes you think I'll do that?_  Lief countered silently.   
        "He's in that brush over there," Endon said, one hand on the topaz, the other pointing to Lief's hiding spot.   
        _Damn_ , Lief thought.  _I forgot about the topaz.  
_         "Come on out," Endon encouraged. "We know you mean us no harm."   
        Damn. What would he do now?   
        Well, they were stupid enough to believe he was harmless. Perhaps they would be stupid enough to believe that...  
        "Oh, don't mind me," Lief said as he walked out of his hiding place, bow at his side, in full view of his marks. "I'm just out hunting food for my family."   
         Barda raised an eyebrow.   
         "With a mask over your face?"  
          Lief chuckled in false embarrassment.   
          "Oh, that- that's just- my face, you see, it's disfigured-  _highly_  disfigured," he lied. "You wouldn't want to look at it for very long. Even-even my father can't stand to look at it for very long."   
         That part, at least, was true. Partly true. But less out of ugliness than shame.  
          "Oh," Endon said. "I'm sorry about that."   
          "Well, there you have it, Jasmine," Barda said. "He's  hunting, and he just happened to save us a couple of times."   
          "A hunter whose game just so  _happens_  to take him from the Forests of Silence all the way through Ruby territory?" Jasmine snapped.   
          She'd sensed him in the Forests? Damn. That was impressive. It was too bad she was Endon's mistress; Lief liked her the best out of all of them.  
          "So," Jasmine continued, glaring at Lief. "Where's your real explanation for why you're tailing us?   
          "Jasmine," Endon chided. "He's saved our lives three times so far. Does it really matter why? At this point he's more of an asset than a danger."   
          Lief lowered his eyes to the ground in shame. He hated to admit it, but Endon had a point. With all this saving them from low-level monsters and their own stupidity, he was  _helping_  them more than endangering them. If it weren't for the fact that the Shadow Lord had  _personally_  ordered Lief to kill Endon, Endon would actually be in the right.   
           On the other hand...they didn't  _know_  that the Shadow Lord had ordered him to kill Endon...  
            "I couldn't have said it better myself," Lief said. "To put it mildly, you three are  _woefully_  unprepared. You trusted people who not only didn't bother to fix the quicksand warning sign, but  _put a bell on it_. You rushed headfirst into a group of Grey Guards who clearly outnumbered you, and don't get me started on the bird-man who wouldn't let you cross the bridge.  The most intelligent member of your group is Jasmine, a young woman who's never set foot in human society. Face it. You people need me."   
            "That's...a very compelling argument," Endon said, grimacing. "I hate to admit it, but he's right. We are terrible at this."   
            "Yes," Barda added, clearly embarassed. "We are. Welcome aboard."  
            "Welcome aboard," Endon repeated, holding out his hand for Lief to shake. "What's your name, stranger?"   
            "Lief," Lief replied, figuring there was no point in lying to them about his name. They would be dead soon, after all.  
            "Well, then come on, Lief, times' a-wasting."   
            With that, Barda and Endon continued on walking, and Lief sheathed his bow. Jasmine, on the other hand, picked up her dagger from where she'd thrown it, and then proceeded to press it into Lief's neck.   
            "Just so you know," Jasmine sneered. "I still don't trust you...Lief."   
              "You are fully within your rights to do that, ma'am," Lief replied.   
               _And I highly commend you for it_ , Lief added to himself.  _It is always good to maintain a healthy skepticism of people who claim to have your best interests at heart_.   
             "Ma'am?"   
             "A term of respect for a woman," Lief explained. "Now, we'd best get back to the others. After all, without you to be the brains, those two will most likely get themselves devoured by something nasty. "   
            With that, the two rushed up to Barda and Endon, and the four of them continued walking until they saw a strange sign. It had the name Tom written vertically down the pole, and to the side of the pole, on the slim sign proper, was written "Everything for the traveler".   
            "Oh, it's the sign for that shop again,"   
             "What is a shop?" Jasmine asked.   
             "Oh, you silly child," Barda said with a condescending laugh. "Shops are places where people buy and sell goods."  
             "Buy? Sell?" Jasmine asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.   
             "A form of trading, which goods are exchanged for money," Endon explained dispassionately.  
              He held up a couple of coins.   
              "Money being this," he added. "And speaking of goods, we're low on provisions. Perhaps we should take a gander at this shop of his."            
***  
       "Master, I am afraid Caspian is dead," Fallow reported as he stared into the crystal. "It seems he was not the right choice after all."   
        "No," the Shadow Lord replied. "He was merely an opportunity."   
        "An opportunity? For what?" Fallow asked.   
        "To get Lief out of the way more handily," the Shadow Lord explained. "I knew there was a fair chance of Lief dispatching Caspian for me instead of the other way around. I figured if Caspian succeeded, it was a win, and if Lief succeeded, I had a good way of disposing of a useless Ol. We'll just have to think of another way of getting rid of Lief once he comes home."   
       "Him? Coming  _home_?" Fallow cried. "But master, Thaegan has been killed and the long-lost people of D'Or are  _back_. This can only mean that Endon is still alive. As in, Lief  _didn't kill him_. Not only that, but that he now has  _two_  gems. And unlike Caspian, he's a  _competent_  assassin. He wouldn't have let that happen unless he had switched sides-"  
        "No, he  _hasn't_ ," the Shadow Lord snapped. "At least, not in his own mind, he hasn't. He's got a  _heart_ , you know, a real soft one- his pathetic attempts at suppressing it notwithstanding. He's probably spared Endon, or, in his mind,  _delayed Endon's death_ , because Endon either made him curious or otherwise did something to make Lief pity or like him. Which is not  _quite_  the setback it seems to be."  
      "H-how? How is that possible?   
      "Because of the tracker, you fool!" the Shadow Lord bellowed. "The tracker I implanted in Lief! Once we activate it, we'll be able to track Endon's movements with an almost guaranteed certainty."  
      The Shadow Lord scoffed.   
      "Honestly, you ought to know by now. Nothing ever surprises me. I have plans within plans within  _plans_. And, of course, alternate plans to choose from within plans in case something goes awry. Now, activate the tracker."   
      Fallow gulped and pressed the giant ruby on the mirror he was holding. After he did so, an image of Lief, Barda, Jasmine, and Endon walking along a country road appeared in the mirror.   
     "Ah, yes, that's a great deal better," the Shadow Lord mused. "Now, where are you  _going_?" 


	3. Chapter 3

          Tom's shop, much to Lief's disappointment, was much more of a novelty store than an actual place to get real provisions. While many of the goods offered were quite useful, in their own bizarre way- the Fire-Beads sounded extremely useful when you couldn't find flint for a campfire- others were either useless or  sounded too good to be true. The Weather Predictor, for example was undoubtedly a scam, and the Rose Coloured Glasses sounded more like a children's toy than anything useful.  
        The shopkeeper himself, however, appeared to be absent, which gave Barda an idea.  
        "Since Tom's absent, we can just take we want and go," he said. "No payment necessary."  
        "That is _not_ how we operate," Endon scolded. "I will not abide stealing from an innocent businessman."   
         "Nobody's innocent in _this_ day and age," Barda scoffed.  
         "Indeed," Jasmine agreed, glaring at Lief. Lief chose to ignore her glare, as she was completely correct, both about people generally and Lief specifically.  
         "Yes," Endon said. "But stealing for things we could pay for is completely out of line!"  
         Lief glanced back outside, and saw absolutely nothing but countryside. He then casually let his gaze wander around the shop, until he spotted a sign which said: _Choose Carefully_.  
        Oh, dear. This was a trap.  
        And if it was, Lief would be damned if he let his marks get him killed in it.  
       "I think we should just get out," he said. "And continue on our way."   
       All three of his companions stared at him.   
       "What? Why?"  
       "Can't you see?" Lief cried. "This is a trap!"  
       "Trap? This isn't a trap, dear boy," a tall, lean man said as he suddenly appeared behind the counter. "This is a shop. _My_ shop."  
       His large mouth, contorted into a mocking smile, did nothing to assuage Lief's fears, but Barda and Endon seemed convinced. Everyone returned to gawking at the wares, and in the end they ended up buying some Fire-Beads, Instant Bread, Glowing Bubbles, and Water Eaters. The latter two Lief thought were highly impractical, but were bought anyway, all for prices Lief thought were too high.   
      As they prepared to buy their goods, a man with a scar on his face appeared, and proceeded to draw a mark on the counter, a mark Lief recognized all too well. It was the same little V that the Ralad man had drawn while offering his explanation about Thaegan,  the same sign he'd seen all over the countryside as he'd rushed to find his marks after his fight with Caspian.  At the time, he'd taken no notice of the symbol, but now...now it all made sense  
      _It's a sign of defiance,_ Lief thought to himself, horrified. _A refusal to obey the Shadow Lord. A symbol of resistance..._  
      Lief watched the man Tom give some Self-Coiling Rope to the man for far less money than the stated price, and then added to himself,  
      _And there's a group attached to it. A organized group with rules, connections, and business deals. Could it be...the Resistance?_    
      The man walked away from the counter, whereupon Endon appeared to recognize him.   
      "J-Jarred?" he gasped, stepping towards the mysterious man. "Is that you?"   
      "That's not my name," the man snapped. "And I've never seen you before in my life."  
      "Never _seen_ me before?" Endon cried. "We _grew up together_! We were like brothers! You were the closest thing I _had_ to a brother, because of well, the Rule, and, well, kings and queens could only have one child..."  
      _Rule?_ Lief cried inwardly. What _Rule? Who_ made _this Rule? Why would anyone_ follow _this Rule?!..._  
      This strange rule about one child per monarch was yet one more mystery on a growing pile of mysteries surrounding the pre-Shadow Lord monarchy.    __  
The man raised an eyebrow.  
     "Oh, really?"  
      "Yes, really! Look, if this is about my father's murder, is this about my father's murder? I-I honestly thought we were over that!"  
      _Father's...murder? Prandine killed Endon's predecessor? Just how far did Prandine's machinations_ go _?_  
       "I don't know you, and I definitely don't know your father," the man snapped. "Or about any murder."   
       "Like hell you don't!" Endon exclaimed. "Jarred, why are you being so rude!"   
       Jarred, rather than respond, simply turned and walked away. Endon sighed and then joined Barda in exiting the shop. Lief followed, horrified at the information he had just learned.   
      _So... Endon has ties to a member of this organization- which may or may not be the Resistance,_ Lief thought. _That's not good. I...clearly underestimated Endon. On the other hand...they're not all that close._   _Something happened...Endon must have done something...so...maybe it's not as bad as it seems. I'll definitely have to tell Father about this when I get back, though._  
       Outside, they found Jasmine petting some horses in an enclosure near the shop. Beautiful gray animals which reminded him of the Grey Guards' horses. Thinking about them reminded him of his personal pod, and of the Grey Guards he'd killed to save his current companions...and a pang of guilt ran through him.  
      A pang of guilt for which the Shadow Lord would order Fallow to smack him for if he was here, Lief knew. They were beings of brute force, after. They last barely seven years. Easily replaced. Even less human than you and your fellow Ols. Locked in selfish, competition for their master's favor. Caring about nobody except for the members of their pod. They wouldn't even understand the meaning of compassion, let alone demonstrate any. If you need to kill a couple as part of the job, just _kill_ a couple, for goodness' sake.  
     That was the right way to view them, he knew. But ever since he'd been assigned his personal pod, seeing them as disposable was harder and harder. As morally bereft and ruthless, yes. As overly sadistic, definitely. But disposable? No.   
    The worst part was, Lief hadn't killed the guards for the sake of the mission. He'd killed them to cover up for the fact that the mission wasn't over. Because he still hadn't figured why Endon was obsessed with his dead son...  
    Suddenly Lief was extremely homesick. Homesick and longing to return back to the world of a few days ago. A dark, lonely world to be sure, but a world with few complications and solvable mysteries which did not involve his father, Prandine, or any long-dead infants.  
      "Are you all right?" Endon asked, jolting Lief out of his nostalgic reverie.   
      Lief immediately realized two things: one, that his eyes were starting to tear up, and two, that he must look incredibly silly to his marks.   
      "I'm fine," Lief replied, wiping his eyes and staring stiffly ahead.   
       "Well, they are beautiful animals," Endon said, as if attempting to give Lief an excuse for almost crying. An excuse which Lief refused to take; there was no justifying showing weakness in front of a mark, even if they didn't _know_ they were marks.   
       "And they would help our speed immensely," Barda agreed.   
       Barda turned towards Tom, who had appeared behind them a few minutes ago, and asked,   
       "Perhaps we could exchange the goods we bought for four of these beautiful-"   
        Oh, dear. They were going to purchase the horses. On the one hand, Lief _did_ miss having a steed. On the other, buying the horses meant that his marks' travelling time would be reduced, which would greatly aid their quest, a quest Lief was supposed to have stopped by now.   
        "No," Tom said. "I have a strict no-return policy. But..."   
        Tom's eyes went towards Lief's bow.   
        "That is a magnificent piece of craftsmanship your friend has there. Truly magnificent..."   
        Damn it. The clothes Lief had been outfitted with were scarcely different from your average Deltoran citizen's, thank goodness. But his bow and sword...those were far, far too expensive for the peasant Lief was ostensibly posing as to possess.  It was definitely _not_ a simple hunting bow-how he'd passed himself as a common hunter at first was beyond him now.   
      "I might consider trading the horses for it-"  
      "No," Lief snapped. "Out of the question."   
      "Oh- alright," Tom stammered, "Then let me introduce you to these fine Muddlets over here..."  
      "W-what's a Muddlet?" Barda asked.   
      Muddlets, apparently, were three-legged creatures that looked like horses with long, floppy ears. Every instinct in Lief's body recoiled at the thought of riding one, but Endon was in charge, so four Muddlets were bought. After a brief lesson in how to ride one, to which Lief paid no attention, and a stern warning not to lead the Muddlets to Broad River when they came to the fork in the road, they were off.   
      Unfortunately for Lief, when the companions found themselves at the fork in the road, Endon turned his Muddlet in the direction of Broad River.  
      "Uh...didn't Tom say not to go that way?" Lief pointed out.   
       "Yes, but the City of the Rats is located along Broad River, and that's where we need to go next," Endon explained.  
       "To find the next gem?" Lief asked, inwardly panicking. If he let them get three gems...how long was it going to take for Endon to explain his obsession with his dead infant? How many gems was Lief going to have let him take?  
       "Yes," Endon said, "To find the next gem."    
       With that, the rest of the party turned towards Broad River. However, they did not ride very far in that direction before the Muddlets threw off all four of them with not so much as a warning.   
***  
    "So...they're in Noradz now, are they?" the Shadow Lord mused as he watched the four companions fall unconscious in the mirror on the table before him.   
     " _Noradz_ ," Fallow snorted. "Those four don't know anything about Muddlets, do they?"   
     "Apparently not," the Shadow Lord said. "But Lief _does_ happen to know about Noradz."  
     "To a _certain_ extent," Fallow agreed, grimacing as he did.   
     "He knows it's where the food in the palace comes from," the Shadow Lord snapped. "And he can accurately guess his friends don't. That is enough for our purposes."   
     "What...purposes?" Fallow asked.  
     "No purposes, of course, if Lief can keep his act together," the Shadow Lord began. "If, however he can't-"   
     "Can't? Of course he can!" Fallow cried, face flushing with indignant. "I...I trained him _myself_!"  
     "You didn't _train_ him," the Shadow Lord scoffed. "You taught him to read and write when he was little and after that you simply smacked him around whenever you felt like it. Anything he's learned beyond becoming literate is merely an accidental byproduct of the beatings you gave him."  
      Fallow shrugged.  
      "Corporal punishment is the world's oldest teaching method," he said. "You can't fault me for using what works."  
      "It works to create a slave with no mind of his own," the Shadow Lord countered. "Or, worse, a resentful mind. Which is what he would be if your claims of training him were true. What truly works is pain mixed with pleasure, small kernels of approval swimming in a stew of fear. That is how you get something to love you, to fear you, and to obey you unconditionally. _I_ am who he calls Father, not you. To him, you are merely a jumped-up bully. He is _my_ creature. Make no mistake about that. You were never more than the instrument of my will upon him."  
      The Shadow Lord glared at Fallow.   
      "And there are more Ols of your type waiting in the Factory back home," he growled. "It costs me nothing to bring one of them here to take your place."  
      Fallow shuddered.   
      "You're right," he squeaked, trembling in horror. "Forgive my impudence."   
      "Good," the Shadow Lord replied. "Now, as I was saying, if he doesn't keep his act together, and reveals his allegiance to me, those three will automatically turn against him. Only one side can prevail. And Lief has been ordered to make sure it _isn't_ Endon."  
      "So either they will kill Lief, or Lief will kill them," Fallow said.   
     "Precisely."  
***  
     When Lief came to, he found himself in a large hall made of shining gray stone. The air was cold, despite the many torches on the stone walls. In one corner was a fireplace filled with great logs, yet was unlit, despite the chill. An overpowering scent of strong soap filled the air, and this, alongside the damp floor beneath him and a complete lack of dust or dirt anywhere, indicated that someone had recently cleaned this place.   
     Above him a red blur of a person drew back from him, and someone said,   
    "This one is awake."  
     A cup of water was handed to him, which Lief happily accepted and drank deeply from. Upon doing so, however, Lief realized that his mask was gone. Horrified, he felt around for it, and upon finding it had slipped to around his neck, hurriedly tied it back around his face again.   
  Lief glanced down at his marks; fortunately, they were all still unconscious. He sighed in relief. Endon had not seen his face. He had not inadvertently disobeyed his father.  
         He then looked back up and found that the room was crowded with strange people dressed all in black and with shaven heads. Lief looked for the person who brought the water, only to find they had disappeared amongst the ranks of the crowd. The person in red from earlier appeared again, and Lief saw that said person was merely a large man dressed entirely in red clothing-boots, gloves, robes, even the mask which covered the entirety of his face, save for slits that revealed his eyes. Upon looking at it, Lief was instantly intrigued. His own mask was merely a loose black cloth, and it only covered the lower half of his face; Lief's eyes, forehead, and part of his nose were still visible even when it was fully secured. What secrets did this man possess that necessitated more concealment than an assassin acting on the Shadow Lord's orders?  
        Judging by the long, leather whip at the man's side, he was in charge here.   
        The man, sensing that Lief was watching him, brushed his hands across his body, from his shoulders to his hips, and murmured,   
       "Noradzeer."   
        _Noradzeer._ And it was then that Lief realized exactly where he was.   
        This was Noradz. The place where all the food in the palace came from. This man, the man in red, was one of nine Ra-Kacharz who ran the place, and made sure a portion of the food was snuck out via "food inspections" and transported via cart to Del, and from there to the palace, where it was divided among the Shadow Lord's servants. They had never elaborated on what, exactly, the Ra-Kacharz were supposed to be inspecting the food _for_ , but Lief knew that whatever the reason was, it must be a lie.  
         When he was younger, he'd found the idea to be silly.   
     "Why don't we just  _ask_  the people in Noradz for food?" he'd asked one day. "Or hire some local women to cook for us? It'd be  _far_  more efficient-"  
      Fallow's response to this was to slap him in the face, of course, and to scold him for being insubordinate- his standard response to any difficult question Lief asked.  Lief, naturally, was indifferent to this. He had not expected any coherent answer out of Fallow anyway, and hadn't even been talking to him in the first place.  Plus, it  was practically Fallow's  _job_  to hit him.   
        The Shadow Lord, to whom he had actually asked the question, simply laughed and said,   
        "My darling little  _project._ How wonderfully naive of you. We don't  _ask_  them because we  _rule_  them. It is their  _duty_  to provide us food, and whether they do it through trickery or not doesn't matter. Do you understand, now, project?"   
        "Yes, Father."   
        Lief swallowed this explanation, nonsensical as it seemed, because he loved his father. However, a  part of him had always felt that deceiving people to get food was wrong.  
       Lief, not wishing to antagonize the Ra-Kachar, copied the strange gesture, and murmured "Noradzeer," in response.   
       The crowd of people swept their collective hands from their shoulders to their hips and whispered, "Noradzeer, noradzeer, noradzeer...", and the entire room echoed with their voices.   
       That accomplished, Lief stared up at the Ra-Kachar and tried to think. The Ra-Kachar, if Lief could explain to him that they were on the same side, would almost certainly be a great help to him. The black-clad people surrounding him, on the other hand, were most certainly _not_ in on the ruse, and probably would not help him if they found out the truth.  
       Lief glanced at his marks, who were beginning to stir. They most definitely did _not_ know anything about Noradz, and would get very suspicious if Lief appeared to have knowledge they didn't.   
       "What-what is this place?" Endon asked, saving Lief the trouble of having to reply and confirming that he was indeed ignorant.   
       "This is Noradz," the Ra-Kachar explained. "Visitors are not welcome here. Why have you come?"   
      Lief groaned inwardly. _Of_ _course_ they weren't. _Visitors_  might let the cat out of the proverbial bag. Gaining the Ra-Kachar's trust was going to be harder than Lief thought.   
        "We-we didn't mean to," Endon stammered. "Our mounts bolted, and carried us off our way. We...we fell..."   
       The Ra-Kachar greeted each of Lief's marks as he had greeted Lief, and then said to Barda and Jasmine,   
        "You were lying outside our gates, your goods scattered about. There were no mounts to be seen."   
        "Then they must have run away," Jasmine exclaimed impatiently. "We certainly did not throw ourselves on the ground with enough force as to knock us senseless!"   
        The Ra-Kachar drew himself up and lifted the coiling whip menacingly. Lief shuddered as unpleasant memories of Fallow holding a similar whip flooded his mind.   
         "Guard your tongue, unclean one," the Ra-Kachar hissed. "Speak with respect! Do you not know that I am Reece, First Ra-Kachar of the Nine?"   
          Jasmine began to speak again, but Lief interrupted her, determined to get on this man's good side.   
         "We are deeply sorry, my Lord Ra-Kachar," he said loudly. "We are strangers, and ignorant of your ways."   
         Lief then winked conspiratorially at Reece, hoping to impart some understanding of shared allegiance to the Shadow Lord upon the Ra-Kachar.   
          "We mean you _no_ harm, and desire _only_ that you come to _trust us_ ," Lief continued loftily, "For although we are strangers, you may find we have _more in common_ than you think."   
         Reece stared at Lief blankly. If he understood the hidden behind Lief's words, he did not show it.   
          Lief gave another conspiratorial wink, and added,   
          "If you would be so kind, Lord Ra-Kachar, my companions and I would happily accept some enlightenment as to the ways of Noradz."   
        Reece still showed no sign of comprehension. Instead he simply droned,  
      "The Nine Ra-Kacharz keep the people to the holy laws of cleanliness, watchfulness, and duty. Thus is the city safe. Noradzeer."   
         "Noradzeer," the crowd murmured in unison.  
        Well. So much for an ally in Noradz. Lief had done as much to indicate his true allegiance as subtlety allowed. Stopping short of loudly declaring they were both working for the Shadow Lord, and/or demanding assistance,  there was nothing more Lief could do to gain the Ra-Kachar's cooperation.  Reece was either honestly deluded as to the real purpose of the "food inspections", or the illusion of authority had gone so much to his head, that he was unwilling to risk losing it even to help out a fellow servant of the Shadow Lord. Lief strongly suspected it was the latter.  
     It would probably best for all parties involved if Lief gathered his marks and left Reece to play at his games of priesthood. Judging by the expressions on Endon and Barda's faces, at least two of his marks agreed with him.  
         Jasmine clambered back to her feet, and looked fretfully about the room. The crowd drew away from her, as if somehow her tangled hair and tattered clothing could hurt or contaminate them.   
         "Where is Kree?" she demanded.   
         Reece turned sharply towards Jasmine.   
         "There is another of you?"   
          "Kree is a bird," Endon explained, as he, Lief, and Barda also stood up. "A black bird."   
          "Kree will be waiting for you outside, Jasmine," Barda muttered under his breath, irritated. "Be still, now. Filli is safe, isn't he?"   
           "Yes. But he is hiding under my coat and will not come out," Jasmine hissed. "He does not like it here, and neither do I."   
           Of course she wouldn't. She was a wild creature, untainted by the laws of society, and equally uncaring for them. What was more, she had a brain inside her skull, an intelligent, quick-witted one, and nobody who possessed one of those could stand repressive, dogmatic societies for very long.   
           Lief half smiled. As inconvenient as her irrational attachment to those animals was, he couldn't but respect her bluntness. She knew what she wanted, and wasted no time in communicating it. It was off-putting at some points, yet, at the same time, was rather attractive.  
          Barda turned to Reece and bowed.   
          "We are most grateful for your care of us," he said loudly. "But with your permission, we will be on our way-"   
          "It is our time to eat," Reece snapped, his dark eyes daring them to object. "A platter has been prepared for you. The food has already been blessed by the Nine. When food has been blessed, it must be eaten within the hour. Noradzeer."  
          "Noradzeer," the crowd echoed.   
            _Wow_ , Lief thought to himself. _He's...really into it. He...practically_ lives _this charade. So much so it's almost like he's_ not _in on the ruse._  
         And somehow, that thought was more terrifying than Reece being a mere liar and con man.   
          Lief glanced at his marks, who all looked terrified.   
           A gong sounded, and a set of doors at the end of the room opened, revealing a dining hall beyond them. Said dining hall, they found, was just as absurdly clean as the other room, and was filled with bare, very high tables in long rows. A plate and cup was at every place, but there were no eating utensils and no chairs.   
          These people ate with their fingers, standing up? Lief had to hand it to the Ra-Kacharz. They were liars, and xenophobic liars at that, but they did not lie by halves. An entire _culture_ had been invented around this lie, whatever the lie was that kept the people in line.  
         At the far end of the hall was a dais, on which another table stood alone, obviously for the Ra-Kacharz.   
         Reece showed the companions to their table, which was set somewhat apart from the others, and then went to join the other Ra-Kacharz on the dais. Upon doing the customary "Noradzeer" greeting once again, the Ra-Kacharz removed their masks, and servants in black came in with huge, covered platters as another gong sounded.  
         A serving girl came to their table, trembling as she set down a platter in front of them. She glanced them only occasionally, revealing a pair of frightened light blue eyes. She removed the cover from the platter, and all four of the travelers gasped.   
        The platter was divided into three parts, the largest holding an array of tiny sausages and the juiciest-looking meats Lief had ever seen in his life, threaded on wooden sticks with roast vegetables of every shape and color. The second was piled with golden, savory pastries and soft white rolls. The third was filled with preserved fruits, little pink cakes with sugar flowers on top, and a curious pile of small, rounded brown sweets.  
        "It's just like the food at the palace used to be," Endon gasped. "Only...the meat was not on sticks."  
         Barda picked up one of the brown sweets and stared at it, amazed.   
         "Can this be...chocolate?"   
         He picked it up and ate it.   
         "It is! he murmured blissfully. "Oh, I haven't tasted chocolate in sixteen years, not since I was a palace guard!"   
          Lief himself simply stared at the assortment, mouth ajar.   
          _Fallow, you_ bastard, he cried inside his head.  _They have food like_ this _and you forced me to eat stale bread and_   _jerky all my life? How could you?_  
          Out of curiosity, Lief  took one of the curious little brown sweets Barda said was "chocolate" and put it in his mouth.   
          It was both sweet and slightly bitter, smooth and amazing; it tasted like love, friendship, and everything wonderful, all in one.   
          _And how dare you deny me_ this? Lief added to himself. This...oh my goodness...  
          "Lief! Stop hoarding the chocolate!" Barda exclaimed.   
           Lief looked down and noticed that he had inadvertently, subconsciously, gathered the chocolate into a small pile in front of him. And then immediately realized he had put himself between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, there was the massive, gigantic, muscular Barda glaring at him. On the other hand, Lief was loathe to part with this newfound miracle substance.  
            Endon laughed as he put Lief's pile of chocolate back onto the platter.   
            "Barda," he chided, "Relax. I doubt a life of hunting has given him many opportunities to encounter chocolate."  
            Embarrassed, Lief took one of the sticks of meat, took a tentative bite of meat, and then, upon discovering that it was a delicious blend of spice, juice, tenderness, and just a small hint of charcoal, began gobbling it down.  
            "Nor has he had much chance to eat much meat, by the looks of it," Jasmine added dryly.   
             "I _lied_ about being a hunter, alright?" Lief exclaimed through bites of meat. "I think we made that clear long before we ever even so much as bought the Muddlets."  
             "Lie though it may be, it's the only thing you've divulged about yourself," Endon pointed out. "Besides your name. What else are we to think of you as?"  
             The blue-eyed servant nervously stretched out her hand to take the cover from the table. In doing so, the cover's edge caught on one of the rolls, and knocked it from its place, where it then fell on to the floor.   
            The girl screamed, a high-screamed pitch of terror. At the same time, a cry of rage sprang up from the dais.   
            "Food has been spilled!" the Ra-Kacharz roared in unison. "Pick it up! Seize the offender! Seize Tira!"   
            Several people from the table nearest theirs immediately spun around, some grabbing the bread, others the girl. Those holding the girl began to drag her towards the high table, with her screaming as they did.   
           Reece moved towards the steps, uncoiling his whip as he did.   
           "Tira spilled food on the ground," he droned. "Spilled food is evil. Noradzeer. The evil must driven out through one hundred strokes of the whip. Noradzeer."   
           One... _hundred_  strokes of the whip...for _spilling food_? No. That was too much. That was going too far. Whatever lie this was in service of, it was _not_ worth it.   
           "No," Lief growled, rushing towards Reece and grabbing the other end of the whip in his hands. "You will do no such thing."   
            The crowd gasped.   
            "I'm sure the Shadow Lord appreciates your service in maintaining this elaborate lie for his benefit," Lief continued. "But that's just it. It's a _lie_. Whatever reason you're giving for sneaking food out of Noradz, it's a _lie_."  
           Tira, the girl, looked up at him, a confused expression on her face.   
           "You mean... it isn't unclean?" she stammered.   
           "Of course it's unclean!" Reece snapped. "Don't let this stranger deceive you?"   
           Lief burst into laughter.  
          "Unclean? That's your reasoning? _That's_ your great justification for getting the food out? And here I thought you Ra-Kacharz were smarter than that. More creative."   
          "You see, Tira? He cares not for our ways! He is unclean, and a liar!" Reece cried.   
          "Oh, now, that's the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" Lief retorted. "I may not be the epitome of cleanliness, and, yes, I'm not exactly the most honest person in the world,  but _you're_ certainly no holy man, and neither are any of the rest of you Ra-Kacharz. You're the Shadow Lord's creatures, plain and simple. You don't sneak food out of Noradz because it's unclean; you sneak it out to give to the Shadow Lord, so he can feed his servants with it. And you do this because _you serve_ the Shadow Lord!"         
         "I...I do no such thing!" Reece protested. "I-we..."   
         "No, you beat little girls for spilling food because you have only their _best interests_ at heart," Lief spat, rolling his eyes.  
          "But...spilling food...it _is_ evil," Tira said. "It...is unclean...it invites rats, who bring disease..."   
           "That may be true," Lief replied. "But it doesn't change the fact that's he's lying. That they're all _lying_. And I can prove it."   
           Reece scoffed.   
           "How? How could you possibly have proof of these wild accusations- you've only been here a few hours! And most of those were unconscious!"   
           "Easy," Lief replied. "Because you, like all servants of the Shadow Lord, have his brand somewhere on your body. All Nine of you do."   
            "Branded?! We-"   
            "If you want to prove that you don't, all you have to do is strip and show your clean, unbranded skin to everyone here," Lief said, gently flicking the other end of the whip.   
          "Clean, holy skin that is absolutely free of any big red circles with a right hand in the center, shown like so," Lief added, holding up his right hand, open, to demonstrate. "Said circle with a hand in it being the Shadow Lord's mark, so that the good people of Noradz can know what they're looking for. Also, so that no one can claim I'm just using any and all marks to slander their precious Ra-Kacharz."   
            " _S-strip_?!" cried a Ra-Kachar from the dais.  
            "Yes, _strip_ ," Lief repeated, tugging on the whip.  "After all, if you're honestly working for the benefit of the people, for the _cleanliness_ of the city, what have you got to hide? You _certainly_ won't have the mark I just described."   
           "Lief," Barda protested, his cheeks starting to flush. "I...applaud your efforts, but...surely this is going a bit too far. I mean...stripping naked in front all these people..."  
           "Sounds perfectly logical to me," Jasmine said, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, if they really are upstanding folk, what do they have to gain by hiding?"   
            "Not to mention," Endon added, "They did just threaten to beat a helpless girl for spilling food. And they don't appear to understand why on earth that could be wrong."  
            Rather than strip, however, Reece simply pointed at Lief and barked,   
            "People of Noradz- seize this liar! Do not let him pollute your minds with this garbage!"   
            A couple of people moved to seize Lief, but the vast majority instead shrank back in fear, both of the Ra-Kacharz and Lief. In response to those that did move to seize him, however, Lief simply cracked the whip in his hands, and they, too fell back. The other end of the whip, rather than hit anything, however, simply fell against the floor with a dull thud. Upon hearing this thud, Reece froze in horror.   
        "You...you stole my whip!"   
        "No, I merely released it from your grasp," Lief replied. "You haven't exactly shown yourself to be trustworthy with it anyway. Nevertheless, I'm perfectly willing to give it back on three conditions. One, you give each of us our packs, cloaks, and weapons back and allow us to walk out the front gate with no harm done to us. Two, you will think up alternative punishments to whipping should anyone spill food ever again. Three, you will not mention any of this to the Shadow Lord."  
         "We-we will do no such thing!" Reece sputtered.   
         "Oh, really?"   
          Lief cracked the whip once more.   
          "Do you want me to train this on you? Give you, perhaps, a hundred strokes to drive the stupidity out?"   
           Reece grimaced.   
           "Seize them," he demanded.   
           Then, much to Lief's surprise, rather than obey, the people of Noradz simply stood where they were. Not only that, but one plump, round-faced woman walked over to Reece, stood to Lief's side, and crossed her arms over her chest.   
            "I don't know if what the stranger says is _true_ ," she said. "It might be, it might not be. But it makes sense. I'm a cook, you see. I work in the kitchens all day, every day, and I know for a fact that only a small portion of the food I and my fellow cooks make is eaten here; most gets sent down the Hole. Now, I've been trained from my earliest years to cook, and not only that, I'm one of the best chefs in all the kitchens; all the cooks agree.  I'll be damned if I don't know how to make good, clean food free of disease. It feels much more likely to me that I'm being lied to than that I can't cook."   
          "Me too," another woman said as he strode over to the rebellious cook.   
           "Me too," agreed a man in the front row, and soon the aisle was filled with a small group of dissenters all glaring at Reece.  
           "Well, what would you know?" Reece exclaimed. "You're not Ra-Kacharz!"   
            "No, but we're trained cooks with minds of our own," the plump, rebellious woman replied. "And you might be able to whip people into physically obeying, but you can't stop people from having opinions that differ from yours. It's what people do."   
          The plump cook glanced at Tira.   
           "Tira," she said sweetly, "Go get the outsiders' packs and weapons. We have business to take care of that they don't need to see."   
            Tira, eager to be out of sight, got up and obediently rushed out of the dining hall.   
            "Thank you, outsiders," the plump cook said, as she turned towards Lief. "You've given us the courage to voice frustrations that have been bubbling long underneath the surface. Centuries-long frustrations, to be precise."   
           Lief's eyebrows shot up.   
          " _Centuries?_ But the Shadow Lord has only ruled Deltora for sixteen years-"  
          Lief had hardly said that, however, when Tira showed up once again, this time with an armful of packs and weapons. She nervously handed each of them their packs and weapons, and dashed out of sight before they could so much as thank her.   
          "Now, go," the plump woman said. "We have business to take care of, and, judging by your gear, so do you."   
          Lief and his marks obeyed her without so much as a second thought, rushing right out of the dining hall, through the other hall, and through the front gate, where, much to Jasmine's relief, Kree was, in fact, waiting for her.   
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	4. City of Rats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally reach the City of the Rats and do battle with Reeah. In the process, Lief almost dies, and the party finds out Lief's secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don't think the Shadow Lord wouldn't have experimented on Lief, do you? Of course he would; he's the bad guy! The Big Bad with magic powers!

       Once reunited with Kree, the companions wasted absolutely no time in sprinting back to Broad River, remaining absolutely silent the whole way. It was only after they finally got back to Broad River that Barda dared pant:  
            "Thank goodness.  I thought we'd never leave that place."  
           "Yes," Endon agreed. "Me too. Say...Barda, didn't you notice that the food there was _exactly_ like the food the palace used to have?"

          "Yes," Barda replied. "Yes, I did. The Shadow Lord must love his servants dearly, if _that's_ how he feeds them!"

          _Well, it depends on which servants you're talking about_ , Lief thought. 

          "And, according to our friend Lief, the Shadow Lord gets his food by having the Ra-Kacharz sneak out food via 'inspections'," Endon murmured. "But the Shadow Lord has only ruled Deltora for sixteen years...and the people of Noradz have had this problem for _centuries-_ "

Endon shook his head violently. 

        "No, no, it can't be!" 

        "What can't be?" Jasmine asked.  

        "The Ra-Kacharz didn't just sneak out food for the Shadow Lord," Endon gasped. "They snuck food out for the royal palace, as well."   
        Jasmine shrugged.

      "So....what? If the Shadow Lord really  _was_ manipulating the royal family for centuries as you claim, he'd need to get food for them somehow, wouldn't he? Especially if the people were starving."  
        _Yes_ , Lief realized with horror. Yes he did. The centuries-long tyranny of the Ra-Kacharz fit neatly alongside Thaegan, whom no clever, non-manipulated monarch could possibly have missed, and Endon's claim of an illusion surrounding the palace walls, and the ghost's assertion that Endon was manipulated.

        The evidence was starting to stack up in Endon's favor, a fact which Lief realized he badly wished wasn't true. Because if the Shadow Lord's plot to conquer Deltora had been longer than Lief was told...that made the Shadow Lord's conquest of Deltora far less just than Lief had been trained to think it was. Which made Lief's actions as the Bloodhound, in turn...

         No. It couldn't be true. Endon was lying. He had to be.  
       "And that doesn't make their troubles your fault," Barda added, jolting Lief out of his reverie. "I am sure that if you knew that you would have put a stop to it swiftly." 

      "Ignorant or not, I am still complicit in their suffering," Endon countered. "In all my people's suffering."

      "It doesn't matter," Barda assured him. "The only thing you can do now, my king, is to continue our mission, and take your rightful place."  
       "Yes," Endon agreed, " On to the City of Rats."   
       "Wait, are we absolutely _sure_ it's there? The next gem, that is?" Lief asked, suddenly aware of his mission and the fact that three gems would only make Endon more powerful.  
       Endon nodded.   
       "I'm sure," he said. "On the day I lost the Belt, Prandine told me the gems were scattered, hidden in places no one would dare to find them. Seven Ak-Baba were also flying around the palace tower that day. I believe that each was carrying a gem, and, upon consulting with a bunch of different travelers, found that they each were hovering over seven places on the day the Shadow Lord took over: The Forests of Silence, the Lake of Tears- both of which we've already been, the City of Rats, The Shifting Sands, Dread Mountain, The Maze of the Beast, the Valley of the Lost."   
        Endon reached into his pack.  
        "I drew a map, if you want to see it?"   
        Lief shook his head. Damn. Endon was more of a careful planner than Lief had thought.  
        "No," he replied. "Let's just...carry on."  
***  
       "He...he freed the people of Noradz?" Fallow roared as he stared at the mirror.  
       "Yes," the Shadow Lord agreed., "This is indeed a serious blow."   
       "And yet still you insist on keeping him alive?" Fallow exclaimed.   
       "You forget your place, creature," the Shadow Lord growled, red eyes glaring down at Fallow from the crystal.   
       "A-apologies, master," Fallow stammered, hastily bowing before the Shadow Lord. "I-it's just that...after this...our armies will have no food."  
        "True," the Shadow Lord grumbled. "We shall have to find other ways to feed our armies. But keep in mind, Lief probably didn't _intend_ to put us at a disadvantage. These antics of his are just a natural extension of the kindness which _you_ were supposed to train out of him."  
       "Uh, uh..."   
        "Did you _actually think_ you were only supposed to train him as an assassin, or is it just that the Lumin I gave you softened your pathetic little head? You were _supposed_ to condition the boy's empathy away, and had you _done_ that, we might not be _in_ this predicament!"   
         "It's a lot harder that it looks-"  
         Fallow never got to finish his sentence, for hardly had he gotten the word _looks_ out than he suddenly started vomiting up a wicked black bile onto the beautiful marble floor. Fallow coughed, attempting to speak again, instead succeeding only in spewing more black bile. His knees buckled and his eyes widened as he continued to vomit the mysterious substance.  
       "I...I forgive me," Fallow sputtered, as he fell onto his knees and hurled more of the bile onto the floor.   
        "Hmmm...it seems you've been poisoned," the Shadow Lord mused, not even bothering to so much as feign concern.   
        "P-poison?" Fallow gasped, continuing to vomit. "B-but...how-?"  
        Fallow would never find out, for immediately after asking the question, he melted into that special mass of white goo that signified an Ol's death, and soon there was nothing left of the governor of Del but a mix of vomit, said goo, and the occasional human body part.   
       The Shadow Lord glanced down at the mess and mused,   
        "Hmm...so it seems I was right."   
        The Shadow Lord gazed down at the mirror, murmured a few words, and an image of Dain riding in a cart headed west soon appeared in it.   
        "Congratulations, Dain," the Shadow Lord whispered. "Your plan worked. Fallow is dead."   
        Dain's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he stared at the road ahead of him.   
        "You think I didn't _know_?" the Shadow Lord continued, chuckling. "That I was ignorant to the fact that you hated Fallow? That you desired to be governor of Del in his stead? Of _course_ I knew. I know everything. You do realize your backstabbing has left me without a governor of Del, don't you?"  
        The Shadow Lord smiled as Dain gasped in horror.  
        "Ah, so you are smart enough to realize that assassination does not equal instant promotion," he mused. "I'd punish you for inconveniencing me, but frankly, I have bigger fish to fry at the moment. We'll talk about this later."   
        The Shadow Lord turned away from the mirror, and began devising a plan for another food source.  
***    
    The Water Eaters turned out to be surprisingly useful for crossing rivers, much to Lief's dismay. The City of the Rats, being, apparently,right across Broad River, all it took was for Barda to unwrap a few select Water Eaters, toss them into the river, and voila! A solid pathway made entirely of land appeared, wedged between walls of water.   
    Forget Endon, forget the Resistance- whatever sorcerer supplied Tom with these things was clearly the Shadow Lord's _real_ rival!  
    Eventually they got to the other side, onto a plain so barren that not even a single blade of grass grew on it. In the center of the plain was a city whose towers were painted a dark red by the setting sun. An aura of menace surrounded the place, sending a chill down Lief's spine, a chill he intensely despised.    
      _Snap out of it!_ Lief chided himself. _You are the Bloodhound! You have done and sent people to much worse places than a ruined city in a barren plain.  
     _ Although...it was rather odd that said plain happened to be infertile despite being near a river...  
      Jasmine, much to Lief's surprise, appeared to agree with Lief's inner discomfort.   
      "I'm sorry," she muttered, her face white with a strange pain as she suddenly stopped. "The barrenness of this place feels...it feels..."  
        Oh, dear, Lief thought.   
      "I understand," Endon assured her. "So attuned to nature as you are, it must be rather horrifying."   
      "Yes," Barda agreed, "And I was just thinking we should stop to rest and eat. That city does not look like a place one should traverse in the darkness."  
      And so they sat on the plain, a couple of Fire Beads quickly becoming a roaring campfire, a couple of the No Bakes, with a little bit of water, became loaves of bread, and these, alongside some dried berries, nuts, and honey his marks had got from Raladin, made for a fine meal.   
       A fine meal which was interrupted by a massive horde of thousands upon thousands of rats. A horde which began surging down from the city, causing everyone to leap up to their feet.   
        "Run!" Barda cried.   
        " _Run_?!" Lief exclaimed. " They're _rats_!"And we have swords! And I have a bow!"   
        "Clearly, you haven't had much experience with wild animals, if you think we can beat that with three swords and a bow," Jasmine snapped. "And I only have daggers. Some hunter you are!"   
        "She's right," Endon mused. "We can't defeat them with steel. But..."  
         Endon took out the jar of Fire Beads, walked out towards the rats, grabbed a handful of Fire Beads, and threw them at the rats. In a huge burst of flame, hundreds of rats fell dead. The flame then expanded outward, killing more and more rats until the terrified rat horde scattered in all directions, desperate to avoid their fiery doom.   
        With the rat horde vanquished, the four of them gathered their things and scrambled away from the inferno, until they reached a safe enough distance that they would not become fuel for the fire. Once this was accomplished, they all fell into a dreamless sleep until dawn came and the fire was nothing but embers. The trio then continued walking towards the city, until, at last, the towers loomed above their heads.

     Endon stopped suddenly, eyes widened and in horror. 

     "My king!" Barda exclaimed. "Are you all right?" 

    "I..., no," Endon replied. "I hear a voice...inside my head. It...it knows who I am-that I'm the-that I used to be the king. It...wants me to go to it."

    Barda sighed in relief. 

     "Well, I'm afraid we cannot obey this voice, given that we are currently on our way to the City of the Rats. But, if you need to rest, we-" 

     Endon chuckled. 

     "I am not so easily weakened by mysterious voices. Come, my friends. There's no need to worry."

     But for Lief, there was. The Shadow Lord often communicated with his servants telepathically when he needed to; on very rare occasions, he even gave some of his higher-ranked minions a very limited form of said telepathy. Lief had been the recipient of such a present a year ago, and said gift, while not allowing him to read the minds of others, did allow for communication between his mind and the minds of people he knew. It was useless in the palace, of course, but it had been indispensable for managing his spy network.

      If someone was messing with Lief's mark, Lief needed to eliminate them quickly.

     Together the four of them walked into the city, which ended up being a maze of darkness absolutely teeming with rats. Barda blew on a pipe, from which glowing bubbles rose, rising and warming like small lanterns, causing the rats around them to panic and flee. 

     The unexpected usefulness of Tom's novelty gifts was getting on Lief's nerves.

     The city had no natural light, or fresh air, and seemed to be like one enormous building, a maze of stone and ruined grandeur. Lief personally didn't care for it. He'd take Del over this place any day. 

     "Aah!" Endon cried.

     "What? What is it?" Jasmine gasped. 

     "The voice, from before," Endon explained. "It's calling me." 

      And then Endon bolted, stumbling towards the city's heart, forcing Lief, Jasmine, and Barda to rush after him until they at last all came to a wide passage. At the passage's end came a vast doorway, from which a sickening smell billowed.   Upon reaching the doorway, Endon stopped, and voice quavering, asked, 

       "Who are you?"

       Endon, with his companions in tow, then walked through the doorway, and all four of them then found themselves face to face with an enormous snake, which filled up the entirety of the room, and surveyed them with flat, cold eyes. On its head was a crown, and in the center of the crown was an opal, which flashed with all the colors of the rainbow.

      Lief, Barda, and Jasmine immediately drew their swords, but Endon simply stood there, motionless. Eventually he began to unclasp the Belt, much to Lief's horror. 

     "No, Endon!" Barda cried. 

      But Endon would not listen, instead continuing to unclasp the Belt. And then Lief realized: _this_ was the source of Endon's mystery voice. The snake was controlling him somehow, with telepathy.

     Desperate not to lose Endon, Lief charged at Endon and grabbed him, tugging furiously at Endon's hand. And then, after a brief struggle, Endon stood still, and blinked, glancing down at the topaz as he did. Lief, glancing down at the Belt, sighed with relief upon seeing it still attached to Endon, only to find that the ruby was no longer bloodred, but pink. 

     The snake hissed in fury, baring its fangs as it glared at Endon, but Endon held onto the topaz tightly, and appeared to retain his senses. 

      "Why doesn't it attack?" Jasmine asked. 

      "Not to mention," Lief added, "Why is the ruby pink?" 

      "The ruby pales in the presence of evil," Endon replied. "And it wards off evil spirits and cures snake venom. It must be feeling the power of the ruby." 

      Endon staggered, and then panted, 

     "The opal is in its crown. Barda, Jasmine- do what you can while I distract it!"

     "No!" Lief protested. "You will do no such thing!"

      Endon turned towards Lief. 

      "I...what?" 

      "You realize that if you die, this whole quest of yours will be for nothing, right? So... _I_ will distract the snake, while you go with Barda and Jasmine."

     "Y-you're right. T-thank you, Lief." 

     As if on cue, the snake immediately turned its attention to Lief. 

      _You and I serve the same master_ , it hissed inside Lief's mind. _Yet you are deliberately helping his greatest enemies. Why?_

      _I'm not_ helping _them_ , Lief protested. _I am preserving them from their own stupidity so that_ I _may have the glory of killing them._

 _You had the_ perfect _opportunity to kill them a few minutes ago,_ the snake scoffed _. All you had to do was not intervene. And then, once they were inside my belly, you could have gone back, and reported that your mission was a success. Nobody would be there to contest your story._

Lief's eyes widened.

    _H-how did you know I was ordered to kill them?_ he asked, his mind filled with dread.

    _I have the gem that shows the future_ , it replied. _I am all-powerful. I am Reeah, the Master's chosen one._  

    Lief laughed so hard he could barely keep from falling over. 

    "Did he tell you that himself?" Lief asked, unaware he was speaking aloud. "Or did you just _assume_ that was the case?  Because in all my  life I have never, not once, heard him mention you."

    _Perhaps that is because I am too important for lowlifes such as_ you _to know about,_ Reeah snapped.

      _Lowlifes?! Me?! I am the Bloodhound, the terror of Del, I'll have you know!_   Lief replied, indignant. _You're just sitting here, in a ruined city, eating_ rats _!_

 _This is my_ kingdom _, Reeah hissed. My very own kingdom, personally gifted to me by the Shadow Lord himself!_

Lief rolled his eyes. 

_And how, pray tell, did you get this fine kingdom? Did he appear and magically conjure it up for you, rats and all?_

It wasn't that he thought it beyond the Shadow Lord's ability; it was more that he didn't think the Shadow Lord would actually do so for a mere serpent.

    _No_ , Reeah harrumphed. _This city stood here long before the Shadow Lord set his sights on it. A race of sniveling humans lived here- they called it...Hira, I think. His servants were the ones who brought the rats here, rats for me to feed on and grow strong._

 Reeah chuckled.

_There were few rats then, but with his servants' help, the rats eventually overtook the city, spreading disease and consuming all the food. The people, the sniveling, worthless people- they then begged the rat catchers to save them, but, oh, what delicious irony! The rat catchers were the ones responsible for the plague in the first place!_

Rat catchers...Ra-Kacharz...Lief's eyes widened with horror. 

    "This place is where the residents of Noradz used to live, isn't?" Lief gasped. 

      _I...beg your pardon?_

      "The rat catchers seized power, blamed the people for the plague, and herded them out of the city," Lief continued, horrified. "Across the river, to...to..." 

      _Yes_ , Reeah replied. _And then I rose up from beneath, and claimed my kingdom!_

Lief glanced up and saw Jasmine beginning to walk along a great beam that spanned the hall right beside Reeah's head-walking along easily and lightly, as though she had done such things all her life. A good angle to get the snake from, but...how?

      "And...the people...they formed the city of Noradz," Lief told the snake, determined both to keep its attention on him and not to let the snake devalue the poor people it had cheated. "No doubt a corruption of No Rats. And...they've forgotten who they were, and the rat catchers...those servants of the Shadow Lord...they rule the people with whips and lies, all to serve the Shadow Lord's purpose, to feed his armies. _All thanks to you_." 

      _Good_ , Reeah said. _That is what they deserve. Now, Bloodhound, explain to me why you are helping them. And tell me the truth this time._

 _I already did,_ Lief replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance.  

      _And you_ lied, Reeah retorted. _But I begin to sense the answer._ _You feel...pity for these humans, don't you? Pity for a sniveling, worthless race. Not just pity, but curiosity._   _And you question-oh yes, your mind questions..._

        _I do not!_   Lief protested.

        Immediately after he thought that, however, Lief knew it wasn't true.  Thaegan, Noradz.... and now, by Reeah's own admission, the deliberate destruction of a city centuries before the Shadow Lord's conquest. It was not adding up in the Shadow Lord's favor. 

        _I tire of this chatter_ , Reeah said. _You refuse to admit to the truth behind your actions and you deny me my prey. I think I will kill you all and rid my Master of a traitor in the process._

     "How _dare_ you call me a traitor?" Lief roared. 

     Reeah, rather than reply, instead struck at Lief, giving Lief only enough time to slash at it with his sword. It was in vain, though, for the first sweep struck the weapon from his hand, causing it to circle high in the air. 

       "Jasmine!" Lief cried. But there was no time to see if she caught the sword. The snake was about to strike again. 

       "Lief! The fire beads!" Barda exclaimed from the other end of the hall. Evidently he wanted to sneak up on the snake.  Reeah's giant tail then lashed, and to Lief's horror, he saw Barda's body crash into a column and fall flat on the ground. 

     The fire beads. Lief felt for the jar and threw it, straight at the snake's mouth. But Reeah was too fast; he simply jerked to one side, and the jar sailed past his head, crashing into a column and bursting in a ball of flames. The huge head lunged with terrifying speed, and the next moment, the great snake rose, triumphant, Lief's body dangling from its jaws.

      Lief heard a crackling sound, and realized that the flames had reached the rafters. 

        _The fire will not save you_ , Reeah gloated.  

       "I didn't think it would," Lief said weakly. 

      Then, through a haze of smoke and pain, Lief saw Jasmine balancing on a beam beside him, his sword in her hand, her teeth bared in savage fury. She raised her arm, and with a mighty slash, slit the monster's throat from edge to edge. 

        The beast's jaws opened, and Lief fell, hurtling towards the ground. And then all was black. 

 ***

     "You...You did it," Endon gasped, crawling out from behind the snake. "You killed the beast." 

     "Yes, and you did nothing," Jasmine replied. 

     Endon laughed. 

     "So I did," he agreed, walking over to the serpent's corpse and snatching the crown from off its head. "Although I did fully intend to kill it, I swear." 

    Endon sighed, pried the opal from the crown, and placed it inside the Belt. 

     "Although, I am afraid we will have to carry on by ourselves, now," he said. "But our friend's sacrifice will not be forgotten." 

     "I still have some of the nectar," Jasmine said, surprising both herself and Endon. With that, she walked over to Barda, opened the jar around her neck. 

      Why? Why was she doing this? Endon was useless, it was true, and had been a horrible king, but out of all her three companions, Endon was arguably the nicest of the lot. Barda was pompous, proud, annoying, and overly proper. Lief...well, he seemed to like her, oddly enough, but that didn't make him any more trustworthy. Especially not now. Who was this person that both Lief and the snake seemed to know? Why had the snake accused Lief of being a traitor, and to whom? And why had he held the snake responsible for the situation in Noradz?

     Jasmine poured a drop of nectar onto Barda's lips, and within minutes, he was stirring.

     "D-did we win?" he asked. 

     "Barda! You live! Again!" Endon cried, laughing as he did so. 

     Endon turned towards Jasmine. 

     "And now you must revive Lief," he said. "It is only fair. He's saved our lives twice, now. And mine just now for the third time." 

      Uh oh. Now here was a dilemma. Lief's loyalties were questionable at best; the right thing to do, obviously, was to lie and say there was no more nectar. So why in the world was Jasmine walking over to Lief now? 

       Jasmine's hand reached for Lief's mask, then stopped. It occurred to her then that she had no idea what Lief looked like under there; he could look like anything. Lief had claimed, of course, that he was horrifically deformed, so much that his own father couldn't stand looking at him. But then again, he had also claimed to be a hunter, and that was obviously not true.

      In one motion, Jasmine tore the mask off, and gasped. 

     "You _liar_ ," she whispered. "You're not ugly at all!" 

      Jasmine had only seen four human men in her life; her father, before he was kidnapped by Grey Guards, Barda, Endon, and Tom, the shopkeeper. The first three were bearded, middle-aged men, and Tom differed only in that he had no beard.  The only other male faces in her life were the hideous Grey Guards. Therefore, Lief's youthful, beardless face was quite a wonder to her. A worldlier young woman might have thought Lief handsome, but not to the absurd extent Jasmine did. To Jasmine, Lief's face was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. And the notion of men being beautiful was quite strange

      With this Jasmine found her heart beating rapidly for reasons she could not explain, and she could not help but stare. 

        _He's a traitor_ , Jasmine reminded herself. _And is probably working for the Shadow Lord_. 

        Jasmine looked down at him again and thought, 

        _And why does he look like Endon a little bit?_

Jasmine glanced behind her and saw the worried faces of Barda and Endon. 

     Never mind that, she thought, she poured the nectar onto Lief's lips, and sealed the jar. 

***

      Lief stirred, and found Reeah dead on the floor beside him, being eaten by rats. The flames were still roaring in the rafters, and  Jasmine was staring down at him.

     "You lied to us," she said. "You're not deformed in the slightest. At least...not in my experience of hideous." 

     "H-how?" 

     And then Lief realized. 

     "You-you took my mask off!" he cried, struggling to sit up, but only succeeding in lying partially up on his side. 

     "I had to, to administer the nectar," Jasmine snapped. 

     Lief searched for the mask, found it, and hastily retied it. 

     "Endon didn't see, did he?" he asked, panicked. 

      "No, I didn't," 

      Lief heard Endon reply from behind Jasmine. 

      "And why does it matter if he in particular sees, hm?" Jasmine asked, her eyes narrowing in his suspicion. "Does this have to do with what the snake called you? This person that you and a gigantic snake hidden the ruins both know?"

      "Jasmine!" Barda cried. "The place is on fire! We need to get out! Now!" 

     Jasmine did not have time to argue back, for Endon had already swept Lief up over his shoulder and with that, the companions raced through the city and onto the dark plain. There Kree awaited them, squawking anxiously, soaring overhead. A crash sounded behind them; the roof of the city had fallen down. 

        When they had nearly reached the river, they set Lief down, and Jasmine at last huffed, 

       "Can we _now_ talk about how he's probably working for the Shadow Lord?" 

       Barda's eyes widened. 

       "Jasmine! Why would you say that?" 

        "He follows us _all the way_ from the Forests of Silence, he just _happens_ to know that the leaders of a secret city are working for the Shadow Lord, and he has a mutual acquaintance with a gigantic snake that lives in a ruin! And said snake calls him a traitor!" Jasmine cried. "The first two are very suspicious in their own right, but the snake just puts him square in the territory of an enemy."

        _Oh no_ , Lief thought. Jasmine was right. There was no making him out to be an ordinary, overly helpful citizen of Deltora _now_. The worst was very nearly about to come to pass. 

         He could try and claim he was working with the Resistance. That would explain his knowledge of the Shadow Lord's inner workings-he'd have supposedly gained it from spying or having spy friends. But the snake was another thing; Lief doubted even Barda and Endon would believe the snake was working with the Resistance, too. Perhaps...he " _used_  " to work with the Shadow Lord, but had " "defected" to the side of the Resistance. That would explain why the snake called him a traitor. 

        But not why he sounded so offended when it did...

      "You're wrong, Jasmine," Endon said. "He's not an enemy." 

       Jasmine's jaw dropped. 

      "What?" she gasped, and Lief thought the same. Endon, while not as smart as Jasmine, had proven to be at least more intelligent than Barda, and while Lief could see him being manipulated by magic spells and Prandine, there was no way he could blatantly disagree with the facts as Jasmine had laid them out. 

      "Don't get me wrong," Endon said. "He's definitely an agent of the Shadow Lord. But enemy? I'm not so sure..." 

     Barda, Jasmine, and Lief all stared at Endon, slack-jawed. 

     Endon smiled and said to Lief, 

     "What? You think I didn't _know_? I may not have Jasmine's forest senses, but I knew from the moment she sniffed you out...Bloodhound."

     N-no, Lief thought to himself, that's impossible. I...you can't have...

    "Sit down, everyone," Endon said, "This will take some explaining."  

       

       

   

 

  
           
        
          
            
              
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	5. A Blacksmith's Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Endon explains how he knew Lief was the Bloodhound; Lief officially joins the party.

     Obediently, they all sat around a fire Barda had made by throwing a Fire Bead on the ground, while Endon explained himself.

      "Ever since I fled the palace," Endon began, " I have always been hunted by the Shadow Lord and his minions. Some were competent; others, not so much. But three years ago in Del there came to be a spy among the Shadow Lord's minions known only as the Bloodhound...named thus for his uncanny ability to sniff out dissenters and bring them to the Shadow Lord for execution. The whole of Del was terrified of him."

     "Including _me_ ," Barda said with a shudder. "Endon, you can't seriously believe _Lief_ is the Bloodhound? He's...he's a _boy_!" 

     Lief stifled a chuckle at that. Of _course_ Barda would never suspect _him_ of being the Bloodhound. He was exactly the type to believe stories about dangerous wolf-men.

    "I don't _believe_  Lief's the Bloodhound," Endon countered. "I _know_ he's the Bloodhound. And I know because _I_ made his sword and bow." 

      "You...you _what_?" Barda, Jasmine, and Lief cried in unison. 

       Endon smirked. 

      "I made Lief's sword. It was a special commission from the Shadow Lord himself," Endon said. " For the Shadow Lord's new spymaster, I was told. I'll admit, I've made a lot of weapons for the enemy in my time as Jarred the humble blacksmith, and a lot of them have blurred together over time. But Lief's sword, Lief's sword will always stick out in my memory. The words of the commission were rather unique, unique almost to a fault. Ebony handle, it said, and damascus steel for the blade."

     Endon chuckled. 

      "So naturally, all I had to do was glance at Lief's sword to figure out he wasn't the deformed hunter he was claiming to be. Indeed, the only game he was ever hunting was _me_." 

       Lief scowled underneath his mask. He'd had no chance at all, hadn't he? He should have just shot Endon and moved on.

      "So why didn't you tell us, if you knew?" Jasmine demanded. 

      "Yes," Lief agreed. "Why didn't you? Why didn't you run me through with your sword, if you knew _-know that I'm planning to kill you._ "

      "Because," Endon said, "The ruby was still red. It pales, as you know, in the presence of evil, or when misfortune threatens the wearer. And while the presence of the Bloodhound should fall into either one of those categories, it didn't and _doesn't_ for some reason. I wanted to know why that was, and I figured the Bloodhound could be a useful ally." 

     Everyone stared at Endon, slack-jawed. 

     "Ummm," Lief began. "I understand your curiosity, but you do realize that I work for the Shadow Lord, right?"

     "Yes," Endon replied. "But I don't believe it's by choice." 

     "What do you mean, _not by choice_?" Lief cried. "Are you implying that I-?"

      "You've had multiple opportunities to kill us and you let them all slip away," Endon pointed out. "Not only that, you've actually saved us three times, _on purpose_ , and this time, _helped us_ get one of the _seven gems_. _Something_ is staying your hand- a conscience, perhaps? You certainly seem to have one, given that you exposed the treachery of the Ra-Kacharz to the denizens of Noradz, despite what it would do to your master's cause." 

      "I...didn't stay my hand because I _feel bad_ ," Lief protested. "I... _fully_ intend to kill you, I swear!"

      "Then why are we still alive?" 

      "Because...because...I have a question. A burning question that I need answered." 

     "And the question is...?" 

     "Why do you obsess over your dead baby?" Lief blurted out. "You could _easily_ make another. Not with Sharn, I know that-Fallow told me they deliberately made it so she couldn't give you any more kids- but with _another_ woman! There are _plenty_ of women who would _happily_ give you children for the right amount of coin in Del- as many children as you want!" 

      Endon's eyes widened and his jaws dropped as he took in this revelation. Eventually he roared with laughter, falling back onto the plain as he did. 

      " _That's_ why you didn't kill me? Because you don't understand the concept of _grief_?" Endon wheezed as he sat back up.

       Lief raised an eyebrow.

       "If grief is what you call obsessing over something easily replaceable, than no, I don't."

       Endon began laughing again. 

       " _Easily replaceable_? Children are not _easily replaceable_. They're not replaceable at all."

       Barda's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

       "Don't you have people in your life whose deaths would make you sad?" he asked. "Like...your mother, for instance. Or your father." 

       Lief shook his head. 

      "I don't have a mother," he said. "Those made in the Factory in the Shadowlands can't have a mother. As for my father...I'm fairly certain he's unkillable." 

      Jasmine snorted. 

      "No father is unkillable." 

      "Well, the Shadow Lord is," Lief replied. 

      Everyone stared at Lief. 

      "Are you saying the _Shadow Lord_ is _your father_?" Barda gasped. 

      Lief nodded. 

      "Yes," he said. "I was a special experiment of his, back in the Factory, albeit a failed one. He added a bit of his blood to my formula, and that's how he became my father. Although I didn't become what he intended. Instead, I just became a defective Ol."

      "A defective what?" Jasmine exclaimed. 

      "A defective Ol," Lief explained. "Ols are a race of shape-shifters, created by my father. They come in three grades. Grade 1 Ols can take the shape of living creatures they've seen, but their body temperature is cold, and they can't hide my father's mark very well-it's all in plain sight. Plus, they have to change shape every three days or else they'll suffer from something called the Tremor. Grade 2 Ols differ from Grade 1 Ols in that they can take on more shapes,  make their skin warm, and hide the mark somewhat better. But they still suffer from the Tremor. Grade 3 Ols, on the other hand-they can become living as well as non-living things, their skin will almost always be worm, and the mark is nearly undetectable on them. Better yet, they don't suffer from the Tremor. But they die just like regular humans do, whereas the other two grades can only die by being pierced in the heart." 

     "And what grade are you?" Endon asked. 

     "Grade 3," Lief replied. "Or I should be. I can't change shape at all, at least not willingly. I've sometimes gone through strange periods in my life where I've grown taller and my hair's grown longer, but I can't make myself short again, and I can only cut my hair when it grows. I did go through this strange phase a couple of years ago where I grew taller and grew more hair on certain parts of my body, and my voice cracks sometimes. But I can't, say, make myself into a duck or an old woman or anything but this form I'm currently in." 

     "And... _that's_ why you're defective?" Barda asked. "Because you're stuck in one form!" 

     Lief nodded.

    "Yes. And...are there any other questions before one of you runs me through with a sword?"

     Everyone was quiet. 

    "Actually, yes," Jasmine said. "I...killing you is probably more important, but...is that mask just...part of your 'Bloodhound' thing? Is that why you wear it?" 

     Lief laughed. 

     "No," he said. "I wear this mask because my father told me to. According to him, it was crucial that Endon never see my face. He must have foreseen this failure on my part." 

    "He foresaw you wanting to know why Endon misses his son?" Jasmine exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. 

    "I'm just curious as to why the Shadow Lord would send his _own son_ on such a dangerous mission in the first place," Barda said. "I mean, what if you died?" 

    Lief snorted. 

     "I'm sure if my father _wanted_ another defective Ol, he would make one," he retorted. "He wouldn't waste time whining about my disappearance." 

     Upon saying that, however, Lief was suddenly filled with a profound sadness that he could not name, a sadness that brought the onset of tears to his face. Why, though? Why was he sad? It was logical, it was the fulfillment of every virtue the Shadow Lord had taught Lief to hold dear. Why shouldn't the Shadow Lord be so in that hypothetical scenario?

      Furious at his weakness, Lief brushed away his tears, determined not to let his marks-or, rather, his captors, now- see them. 

     "That's horrible," Barda gasped. "I mean, I may not have my dear sweet mother anymore, but at least I know she loved me." 

      "Y-you're wrong!" Lief blurted. "My...father _loves_ me! He...he is just not as emotional and irrational in the face of death as you humans are!" 

      Endon shook his head. 

      "And that's where you are wrong. Love is just as much selfish as it is selfless; to love someone is to need them close to you as much as possible. Death ends all possibility of that; once someone is dead, they disappear from your life forever. It is therefore impossible to not be 'irrational' in the face of a loved one's death; because then they can no longer be close to you."

      Lief's eyes widened. 

      "Even if they're useless or...easily replaceable?" 

     Endon gazed sadly at Lief.

    "Nobody is useless or easily replaceable when you love them." 

    So this...this _love_ was why Endon missed his dead son?! This... _love_ that apparently magically made people unable to see the uselessness of those around them?  Impossible! There had to be a different reason.

     "But...since you probably don't believe that," Endon continued, as if he had read Lief's thoughts. "Let me make you an offer. Why don't you join up with us for real?" 

      Everyone stared at Endon. 

     "What?" they cried in unison. 

      "Endon, you know he's going to us. You've known from the start, and he's just admitted it," Jasmine pointed out.

      "Not to mention, he's the Shadow Lord's _son_ ," Barda added. "Lief's got absolutely no reason to want to see the Shadow Lord defeated, and every reason to see us fail. I mean, the boy's pretty much a prince!" 

       Lief chuckled. 

      "A _prince_?" he scoffed. " You think my father was _overjoyed_ to see that his experiment failed? That he pampered me because he was so _thrilled_ to have a defective Ol to take care of? I'll have you know I was treated as much like my other servants as my defectiveness allowed!"

     "Indeed," Endon agreed with a smile. "A _proper_ prince would have been introduced to chocolate and meat _far_ earlier in life. While he may not have any reason to see his father defeated, he does have a conscience. A conscience which forces him to do things that are quite contrary to his father's plans. And I imagine if his father finds out what he did in Noradz, he is not going to be thrilled with him." 

    Lief shuddered. No. No he was not. The Shadow Lord would not be pleased by any of Lief's actions since the day he chose to delay Endon's death in the Forests of Silence. Even if he did kill Endon and go back home, Lief would, at best, have things that Dain or some other schemer could use to blackmail him. At worst, he would end up dead. 

 Lief was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

   "I understand this must be a very difficult decision," Endon said, as he grabbed Lief's hand and pressed it to the opal. "Here." 

   And then, Lief's mind was suddenly filled with a vision of sandy wastes and clouded skies. He saw himself alone, among rippling dunes that had no end, and there was a terror, lurking, unseen. 

     Lief gasped and pulled his hand away. 

      "Why did you do that?" he gasped. 

    "The opal sometimes gives glimpses of the future," Endon explained. "I had hoped that allowing you a glimpse would help you decide. Tell us, what did you see?" 

     Grudgingly, Lief relayed his vision to the group. 

     "The Shifting Sands," Endon said, a small bit of awe in his voice. "You saw the Shifting Sands. That's where we're going next."

     "Well, if that's the case," Lief harrumphed, folding his arms. "I'm leaving."

      "So there is something the Bloodhound fears!" Barda announced, laughing. 

      "I'm not afraid!" Lief protested. "I just...I just don't want to die-" 

      Upon seeing the smirk upon Barda's face, he fumed, 

      "Fine. I'll join up. But this isn't because I'm afraid, I'll have you know!"

      "Good," Endon said. "Then whatever is to come, the four of us will face it together." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was difficult to write. Writing the explanation for Endon's sudden knowledge was really hard to make plausible, and it only hit me recently to make it so he made Lief's sword and recognized it. Sorry. We've only covered three books of canon so far with this, and we have at least five to go. Don't worry. It'll stop being so lengthy and I imagine there will less Stations of the Canon to adhere to in the future.


	6. The Orchard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the Shadow Lord uses the Conversion Project on Katie. Or an early form of it, anyway.  
> And yes, Endon offers sex in exchange for leaving them alone. And yes, you seriously thought that infertility plus the "death" of their child wouldn't impact his marriage to Sharn? Even the strongest of relationships can fall apart under those conditions, and Endon and Sharn didn't even have a relationship prior to the wedding-they never so much as saw or spoke to one another!

          "So," the Shadow Lord sneered as he watched the plume of black smoke rise from the ashes through the mirror. "Lief has helped them get another gem. The opal, no less. What do you think of this, slave?" 

         Katie lifted her head off the ground just enough to look back up at the crystal, where the Shadow Lord awaited her response.

        _That I've been well-compensated for my betrayal_ , Katie thought to herself. _Well-compensated in the only way a traitor can be compensated-with more betrayal._

         It was ironic-she'd gone to such trouble to secure her brother's freedom, only to have her own taken from her. They'd placed her in shackles the moment her brother left the palace- and carted her off to the Shadowlands, where she'd been forced to work as a slave for the past sixteen years. 

        And now... just a few hours ago, they had taken her back...back to her homeland, back to the palace, to the very scene of the crime. To...watch the Shadow Lord's son betray him, apparently. 

         In all her years as a slave, Katie had never, not once, heard of the Shadow Lord having a son. She hadn't thought it was possible. But, it was. 

          _And I'm glad that you do,_  Katie added to herself. _I'm glad he's here to help you experience this special kind of pain-the pain that comes when your loved ones hate you. If you even have a heart to feel pain with, that is._

And she seriously, honestly hoped, that Endon would succeed, and that if he did, he would find it in his heart to forgive her. 

         But of course, one did not say these things to one's master. 

         "It...it  is not my place to say," Katie said cautiously. 

         The Shadow Lord chuckled. 

         "Ah, you're a bright one. Don't want to upset your master, do you?" 

         The Shadow Lord then proceeded to smile from within the crystal. 

        "Yes, you'll do miles better than Fallow."

        "F-Fallow?" Katie stammered, utterly confused. 

        "The former governor of Del," the Shadow Lord explained. "Until he was poisoned by a fellow Ol, that is. Obviously, he needs to replaced, but it occurs to me that that particular model of Grade 3 Ol is, how should I say...insufficient. So I thought I might try experimenting with a human governor." 

       She...she was going to be the governor of a whole city? This...this was great! Finally! At last! She'd have the opportunity to reach Endon, Sharn, to write to them, to apologize for what she'd done. Not only that but, she could make things better as well. She could turn things around completely in Del, feed the hungry, care for the sick. 

        "You have a sharp mind, and slavery has conditioned you to be cautious," the Shadow Lord continued. "But still, power corrupts even the best, midwife. And so I fear that might the case with you. So I've devised a plan to...remedy that." 

        Katie gulped. Whatever this 'plan' was, it couldn't be good.

       "The worm, if you please," the Shadow Lord said of a slave standing to the right of the crystal holding a small box.

       The slave opened the box, revealing a small pale worm with a scarlet head. 

       "Once inserted into your head, this worm will ensure your absolute obedience to me in all things," the Shadow Lord told Katie. "Any and all desire to destroy or otherwise disobey me will vanish, causing you to be my eyes and ears. I call it the Conversion Project. It's still in its early days, so you might feel some small...side effects."

       "My lord!" Katie insisted, her eyes wide with fear.  "I...I am completely and utterly devoted to you. I have no need of such...things." 

        "Ah, but you do," the Shadow Lord said. "You are clever, much more so than Fallow. You know how to make your disobedience fly under the radar. And besides, with my little gift, life will be so much better for you. You'll no longer feel that guilt about anything you do-because you might not even be aware of it! You'll be my little puppet, doing whatever I say and ensuring others do the same." 

        "Now," the Shadow Lord demanded, "Insert the worm." 

        The slave then proceeded to advance on Katie, and inserted the worm into her ear, and for Katie, all became darkness. 

***

        Lief and his new "companions" had been walking beside the river for a whole night and the good part of a day, and the more Lief walked, the more Lief hated himself. What had happened back there?! Why had he told his marks everything about who and what he was! Why had he let a _vision of sand_ scare him into joining their quest? More importantly, how had Endon forced him to touch the gem that caused said in the first place? 

        And why, after touching the _Belt_ , of all things, was he still alive? He was the Shadow Lord's creation-one of the very things it was created to kill. Lief should have been a pile of ash on the ground the moment Endon placed his hand on the opal. 

       But no. He was walking alongside the river, in one piece, and, as far as he could tell, had suffered _no_ lasting consequences whatsoever. In fact, Lief felt much the same as ever, only slightly... _lighter_ , somehow. As if something...something had been taken out of him...something...poisonous. But according to Endon, the opal didn't remove poison. Its power involved seeing into the future. 

      Lief glanced back at the plume of smoke still rising into the sky from the ashes of Hira and sighed. Whatever had caused the Belt to not kill him, it didn't matter. That plume was a signal, clear as day to the Shadow Lord, a signal which would tell him things Lief could not afford to let him know. Like that Lief had, inexplicably, actually helped his marks _retrieve_ one of the gems! Why he had done that, Lief didn't know. But he did know that he would no longer be doing _anything_ like that. Endon had given Lief his answer: that he was blinded by emotions such as love and grief. Unsatisfactory as said answer might be, it was still an answer, and Lief no longer had any excuse to delay Endon's death. 

       Indeed, Lief thought, at this point, it would be a mercy. Endon would be free from his sadness, guilt, and anger at long last-he would be at peace. 

      Wait-why was Lief justifying his duty to assassinate Endon? It had to be done, plain as that. Endon was a threat to Lief's father, to Lief, and to all Deltora. 

       Or was he? The more Lief heard Endon's side of the story, the more he got the feeling the Shadow Lord and Fallow had lied to him, or at the very least, omitted a great many important facts. 

        "So," Barda asked as he walked up to Lief, "What's it like, living with the _Shadow Lord_?"

        Lief nearly bent over with laughter.

        " _Live_? You think the Shadow Lord would _deign_ to live in _Del_?" he guffawed. "When he's so busy ruling the Shadowlands?"

        "I...I.. suppose not," Barda said, casting his eyes down at the ground in shame. 

        "I lived mostly with Fallow," Lief said. "The governor of Del? You heard of him." 

        "I...I guess," Barda stammered. "I don't know." 

        "Well, if you haven't, it's because he spends most of his time nowadays hopped up on Lumin, this drug that my father gave him for...reasons I will never understand." 

        "He...he's on _drugs_ all the time?" Barda said with a snort. "Well...that explains the state Del's in." 

        "It sure does," Lief agreed, unable to resist smiling. "Anyway, he mostly contacted us through crystal."

        "Crystal?"

       "Yeah. He would...speak into a crystal on his side, and his image and words would come through a crystal on ours," Lief explained. "And vice versa." 

       "I...see," Barda replied, with an expression that indicated he clearly did not. "So if you never saw your father in person...then who raised you?"

       "He did," Lief explained. "Through the crystal. As to the physical end of childrearing, that was taken care of by Fallow."

       Barda's eyes widened in horror. 

       "He...left you in the hands of a drug-addled hedonist?!!!" Barda cried. 

      "Fallow wasn't _always_ on Lumin," Lief scoffed. "And he was _quite_ the disciplinarian, I'll have you know."

       The scars Fallow's whip had left could attest to that. 

      "But you're his son!!!" Barda exclaimed. "His...only son, as far I know! Why on earth would he think leaving you with a drug addict was a good idea!"

      Lief scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

      "And what would you have him do? Make the _slaves_ raise me? I'd have been a useless, pampered layabout!" 

      "I...I would say he should have kept you at home," Barda replied, gazing at Lief with pity. "Not sent you away to a foreign country to be raised by a drug addict." 

      Lief thought about that. It was a compelling idea. Lief had never, much to his regret, been to the Shadowlands, which were supposedly his home. It might have been quite nice to live there-no whip-crazed Fallow, no horrible executions to witness. Yes, just him and the Shadow Lord. But then, what purpose would Lief have served there? The Shadow Lord was immortal: he had no need for things such as heirs.

        No, the Shadow Lord had probably been right to send him away. 

        Jasmine, whom, up until this moment, had been staring at the horizon, watching for Kree, her blackbird, turned to them and snapped,

        "Oh, boo hoo, your father never showed. At last he had a father. And someone to raise him. My parents were taken away when I was seven, in case you forgot. By Grey Guards. Who work for his father."

        "Wait- why would the Grey Guards be interested in your parents?" Lief asked.

        A family of eccentric forest dwellers should be the _last_ thing they should care about. Unless...Jasmine's parents were rebels of some sort. But still, even if they were...they could hardly be doing much harm to the Shadow Lord in the Forests of Silence.

        Jasmine shrugged.

        "I don't know. Why would they be interested in pillaging and terrorizing all of Deltora?"

        "Well...I don't know about the pillaging and terrorizing," Lief began, "But whatever they do, they do it for the Shadow Lord, so..."

        "Well, then, why is he interested in pillaging and terrorizing Deltora?"

        "He..he isn't," Lief cried, his eyes wide at the very idea. "He...I was always told his reign was for Deltora's own good." 

        "How is _any_ of what's happened for Deltora's own good?!" Jasmine exclaimed. "Noradz, the Ralads, Thaegan- how was any of _that_ good for _anybody_?" 

        "Not to mention, the perpetual starvation of the people of Del," Endon added. 

        Lief honestly had no idea. He had no idea how any of the horrible things he had seen benefited the people-the Ralads had not benefited from Thaegan, nor had the people of Noradz benefited from the Ra-Kacharz, and Jasmine had definitely not benefited from having her parents kidnapped. 

       Lief had seen plenty of unhappiness in Del before- Del was almost nothing but unhappiness. But he'd always assumed the denizens' unhappiness boiled down to either Fallow's incompetence as a governor or their own rebelliousness. One could suppose that the Grey Guards had acted on their own, that there had been no orders to go to the Forests, or that Jasmine's parents were somehow dangerous rebels, but there was no evidence to support either idea. There wasn't any evidence to support anything-except the dangerous notion that Endon was right. Which he wasn't. He couldn't be. 

     Jasmine turned back and suddenly gave a high, piercing cry. In answer came a faint, harsh sound. Kree then came flying back to them, squawking harshly as he landed on Jasmine's arm. 

        Jasmine turned towards her companions and said,

        "Kree says that the plain ends in a band of water that's almost as wide as the river."

       "What?" cried an appalled Endon, who slumped to the ground in exhaustion. 

       "The plain is an island?" cried Barda as he sat down next to Endon. "How can that be?" 

        Kree made an annoyed clucking sound as he ruffled his feathers. 

        "Kree has seen it with his own eyes," Jasmine snapped. 

       It had turned out that Jasmine had the ability to speak to trees, birds, and almost all manner of wildlife. How she had gotten this ability without his father's help, Lief did not know. But he respected her all the more for it. And the more he respected, the more unbearable the idea of killing her became, and the more he hoped and wished she wasn't Endon's mistress. 

       Jasmine continued on, explaining that the water up ahead had fish, that it was possible for them to wade through the water, and that they could reach it by the next day if they carried on through the night. And so they continued on walking until dawn the next day, when they they at last reached the end of the plain, to a gleaming sheet of water. 

        _Not a natural channel_ , Lief observed as he stared at the water. _Too even. Must have been dug by human hands, probably as a barrier against the rats_.

      Kree squawked excitedly as he flew above them. 

      "There are trees on the other side," Jasmine murmured, as she stepped into the water. 

      "Jasmine!" Lief called after her, splashing into the cool stream after her. Endon and Barda followed, desperate to save her as well. 

      _Wait, why am I saving her?_ Lief thought to himself. _She is Endon's mistress, most likely. She's probably pregnant with his child by now!_  

     Endon jumped and yelled.

      "What? What is it?" Barda exclaimed. 

      "There's something in the water!" 

      Lief looked down and saw a flurry of several large fish dart into the shadows. 

      "They will not hurt you," Jasmine assured them, without turning around. 

      Lief sighed. It was probably best to trust Jasmine's judgment on this one. And so they all crossed to the opposite shore without incident. They then followed Kree to a tree that grew beside the water, pushed through the greenery, and found themselves in a small clear space surrounded by drooping branches on all sides. The whole thing gave them the impression of a cozy green little nook, with the tree at its center. On this tree stood the small, furry creature whom Lief had come to know as Fili, Jasmine's other pet. 

       Exhausted, the four companions groaned and sank to the ground, lying down on the soft leaves and falling asleep. 

      When Lief woke, he was alone. The light was dim, and it was cool. 

      _So it is night,_ he thought. Huh. _I've slept the whole day_. 

      Back home, such laziness would undoubtedly have earned a whipping, and possibly some shocks from the Shadow Lord as well. Wherever the others were, he sincerely hoped the others did not have that in mind for him as well. 

      Then Lief realized: they had left him _alone_! Perhaps Endon had finally seen the light and decided to abandon Lief here, leaving him to whatever fate the Shadow Lord had in mind for him.

      No, no, no! This was not good! 

       Lief parted the branches in a panic, and saw that it was not, in fact, night, but daybreak. And also, that Barda, Jasmine, and Endon were coming towards the tree. 

      Lief sighed in relief. They had not abandoned him after all. They were probably just searching for food. Right. Humans were like that-they _needed_ food. And they needed it more than Lief did-three times a _day_ , if Lief had heard correctly. 

     Lief used to require that much food, many years ago back when he was smaller. Thanks to the Shadow Lord's experiments, however, that need had been greatly reduced to only one meal every six days. Granted, his need for food _at_ _all_ was still humiliating and a sign of his defectiveness, but it had come a long way. 

     "Apples!" Barda called, as he approached "Wizened, but still sweet, and strangely filling." 

      He threw an apple to Lief, who stared at it, unsure what to do. 

       "Well? Aren't you going to eat it?" Barda asked.

      "Thank you," Lief said with a sigh, sincerely touched by Barda's concern. " But... I only need to eat every six days." 

       Jasmine raised an eyebrow. 

      "This part of being an Ol?" 

        Lief shook his head. 

        "No," he said. " Proper Ols don't need to eat at all. This is because of, well...all my life, my father has been experimenting on me, to try and correct my defects. He never succeeded, but the experiments _have_ given me very useful powers. One of which is the decrease in how often I need to eat." 

       "A huge advantage, no doubt," Jasmine said as she took a big bite of an apple. "Especially when food is scarce." 

      "He's the Shadow Lord's son!  A _de facto_ prince!" Barda said with a laugh. "And no prince would ever want for food. What good would a reduced stomach be in a palace full of delectable foodstuffs?" 

      "Well, from the sound of what Lief told us, I doubt the Shadow Lord was so forthcoming with good food," Endon pointed out."

       Lief shrugged. Before Noradz, Lief would have agreed wholeheartedly with Jasmine. It would be an advantage, especially since it meant having to endure less of the humiliation of having to swallow more dried jerky and stale bread for his own good in front of non-defective Ols who didn't need food. But then Noradz happened, and suddenly Lief had become introduced to the concept of food as a pleasure as well as a need. Where eating was not merely a necessity to be endured, but a delight, and a delight that could be shared. 

      "It is what it is," he said, taking a tentative bite of the apple Barda had offered. To his delight, he found that it was filled with a wonderfully, wonderfully sweet juice. He sank into, devouring every last piece of this new, wonderful fruit. 

       "But...if you're not hungry," Endon said, "Then why are you eating?" 

        "Well, to tell you the truth, I've never eaten an apple before," Lief confessed. "Before Noradz, my meals mainly consisted of dried jerky and stale bread." 

        Barda laughed. 

        "I suppose that's as good a reason as any. And they say stolen fruit tastes the sweetest." 

        "Stolen?" Lief asked as he took another bite out of the apple.

         "Those trees over there are an orchard," Endon explained, pointing behind him. 

        Endon chuckled. 

       "Jasmine didn't even bother to find the owner before helping herself."

        Jasmine tossed her head. 

        "Those trees are groaning with fruit. They are anxious to be picked. And the fruit is so withered-who could object to us helping ourselves?" 

      "I am not complaining," Lief assured her cheerfully, taking a final bite of the apple. "If I had known something as wonderful as this grew on a tree, I would have taken the lot. And asked how I could grow some of my own." 

      Jasmine giggled. 

      "That's not a bad idea," she said. "I wish I'd thought of that-" 

      Then, suddenly, a high-pitched voice screamed,

      "Thieves!" 

      Lief squinted against the dawn light. A little, plump old woman bundled in shawls was rushing towards them, her face wizened and red with anger, as she shook her fist at them. 

     "Thieves! Vagabonds!" the woman shrieked. "Give them back!" 

      The four of them stared at her, open-mouthed. 

      "You stole my apples! Where are they? Give them to me." 

      Silently, Jasmine passed over the three apples that remained in her hands. The old woman took them and glared. 

      "Cheat! Where are the other six? Every apple is numbered. Every one must be accounted for. How else can I fill my quota? Nine fruit you took, nine you must give back to me." 

      "I am sorry, madam," Barda said, clearing his throat. "We cannot return them, for they have been eaten." 

      " _Eaten_?" the old woman cried, swelling and growing redder with rage. 

       The old woman threw back her head, shook her shawls, and immediately let out a high-pitched cry. Immediately, she was surrounded by an enormous cloud of the angriest bees Lief had ever seen in his life. 

      "Ha! You thought I was unprotected, did you?" the old woman said, with a manic laugh.  "That you could steal from me without fear! My guards may be small, but they act with one mind. You will die of a thousand stings for your crime." 

       Jasmine desperately felt through her pockets, and then at last offered a handful of gold and silver coins-their entire savings, if Lief recalled correctly. 

       "Will you take these for your apples?" she asked. 

      The jaws of Barda, Lief, and Endon collectively dropped. The old woman gave a start.

      "If you have money, why do you steal?" the woman asked as she narrowed her eyes. Just as she was about to take the coins, however, Endon pushed Jasmine's hands away and said,

     "That...that is way too much money for just nine apples. Perhaps...perhaps we could come to some sort of agreement?" 

      Lief's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Some sort of...agreement? He had heard that phrase before, or variations on it. Usually, they came from rebels of the feminine persuasion, and usually it was offered to him right after he showed up at their house and declared they were under arrest. The phrase was often accompanied by the rebels positioning their bosoms in what Lief could only call a... _strategic_ position. 

     Lief had always turned these women down, partly out of loyalty to his father, and partly because he was not entirely sure what they were offering in exchange for him letting them go. He assumed it must have something to do with this... _romantic involvement_ humans loved so much, but as to the specifics, Lief had no idea. Were they letting him...impregnate them? Engage in that curious mouth-to-mouth contact they called kissing? What? What was it they were promising to let him do? 

     And more importantly, was Endon offering any of that to this elderly orchard owner? If so, was he just doing it so they could keep their money? Or was he hoping to produce a child with her?

     It turned out that for once, Lief was almost completely right in regards to the sexual side of things. Not entirely right-obviously, Endon didn't think an elderly woman could possibly get pregnant, nor did he want her to- but nevertheless, Lief was almost right on the money.

      "And...what sort of arrangement would this be?" the woman asked.

     "I," Endon said. "Take you inside and give you the special company that a lonely old woman such as yourself has undoubtedly gone without for quite some time."

     Barda's eyes widened at that statement.

     "Endon!" he exclaimed. "You cannot seriously be thinking-"

     "And in exchange, I completely ignore the fact that you stole my apples?" the woman scoffed, raising an eyebrow.

     "No," Endon replied with a nervous smile. "You consider the apples a...donation, if you will. A generous donation to the righteous cause of liberating Deltora from the Shadow Lord's tyranny." 

     "The...what?"

      "You see, gracious lady," Endon explained, as he lifted up his shirt, revealing the as-yet-incomplete Belt to her, "I happen to be none other than King Endon, and I am on a quest to restore the Belt, free us from the Shadow Lord, and atone for how I neglected my people." 

      "Your...your...Your Majesty!" the woman gasped, immediately curtsying. "P-pardon me, I-" 

      "No need," Endon assured. "It is I who should apologize, my good lady. Now, if you will dismiss your guards." 

      The woman made a soft sound, and the bees immediately retreated underneath her shawls. 

      "Very well," the woman said. "I will overlook the theft, Your Majesty, in exchange for what you have promised. And...half the coins in your friend's hand." 

      "Done." 

       And so Jasmine offered half her coins, and the old woman began leading Endon away to her house, the latter part of which Barda objected strenously to.

       "Endon!" Barda cried. "You cannot seriously-what about Sharn?"

        Jasmine shrugged. 

        "Many animals choose multiple mates," she rationalized. "Why shouldn't humans?" 

        "Because when they do, the established mate tends to get violent," Lief told her. "A fact which has benefited me far more times than I care to admit in my work as the Bloodhound." 

       "Oh, Sharn and I have been separated for many years," Endon said as he turned back to Barda. "I'm sure she couldn't care less about who I choose to sleep with. That's the thing with marrying a woman you've never so much as spoken to before. So long as there are no underlying problems, the marriage might work, but once you start adding things like the death of your only child, and infertility, it goes downhill quickly." 

     "I...I'm sorry," Barda said, casting his eyes down in shame. 

     Endon raised an eyebrow.

     "You really haven't wondered why Sharn was absent from the forge back in Del?" he asked.

      Before Barda could answer, Endon was dragged into the house by the old woman, and Barda, Lief, and Jasmine were subsequently forced to stand outside and listen to the sound of Endon and the old woman making love. 

      "Well, separated or not, that still doesn't make it okay for him to prostitute himself to any one and everyone!" Barda huffed as the moans from the house got increasingly louder. 

      "Why not?" Lief asked, raising an eyebrow. "If Sharn doesn't want him, why shouldn't he seek other partners? Partners more likely to bear children for him?"

      Barda snorted. 

      " _Her_ , bearing children? At her age? We're more likely to see Adin turn up resurrected!"

      "And wouldn't that be a lucky break for us!" Jasmine added. "But no. As much as I hate to say it-I agree with Lief. It would be in Deltora's best interest for him to mate with as many women as possible. The more children he can make, the better." 

    _Not for me_ , Lief thought. That's more targets I have to eliminate. I'd better think of a way to kill Endon soon, or- 

     Just then, Endon and the elderly woman emerged from the cottage, Endon looking pleased with himself and slightly disheveled, the woman far more composed, but still holding a smug smile on her face. 

     "Now, you can get back onto the road through a gate on the far side of the orchard," the woman said. "Tell no one you were here." 

     Endon raised an eyebrow.

     "And in turn,  I presume you will forget you ever saw us?"

      The old woman smiled dreamily. 

      "Forget you, Your Majesty? Oh, never! But rest assured, the only person who will know you were here is little old me." 

     With that, the four travelers strode away across the grass and through the trees. 

     "Funny how she was willing to sting a group of ordinary travelers to death, but the moment one of them says he's royalty, she drops everything and mates with him just like that," Jasmine mused.

     "Not without taking half our money, though," Endon pointed out. 

     "True, but one can't say that being royalty doesn't have its perks," Jasmine pointed out. "You know what...I've half a mind to claim to be your daughter, Endon. I imagine _everyone_ will line up to mate with me, then." 

     "Except it's not true," Lief pointed out as he opened the gate and began walking down the winding, tree-lined path in front of them. 

      _At least, I hope it's not,_ Lief added to himself. _Because then I would_ definitely _have to kill you._

     "They wouldn't know that," Jasmine countered with a shrug. 

     Barda, meanwhile, had stopped at the gate and was staring at an old sign fixed to it. 

     "Queen Bee Cider," he gasped. "That was a favorite drink amongst the acrobats and guards. It gave extra strength to anyone who drank it. That woman back there-she must have been Queen Bee herself!" 

     "Would have been nice if she'd given us a glass before leaving," Endon sighed.

     "Indeed," Jasmine agreed, "But I imagine Lief here is just as strong as ever thanks to his father's special experiments!" 

     "Yes," Lief lied, even though he felt just as tired as his marks were. "Yes, indeed." 

     After all, just because he had 'joined' their quest, was no excuse to let them know all his weaknesses.

    " _Liar_!" Barda harrumphed. "You slept for an entire day _and_ night! If that's not tired, I don't know what is!" 

    Barda rolled his eyes. 

    "Unless the Shadow Lord's experiments have _also_ enabled you to only need sleep _every six days_ as well!"

   Barda was, as a matter of fact, correct. It embarrassed Lief to admit it, but he did in fact need to sleep each night just like the humans did. It was yet another way was defective. But he did not dare admit this to Barda. 

    Fortunately, he did not have to confirm it one way or another, for Endon interrupted by saying: 

    "Look, we need help. We have no food, no blankets, no packs-just our weapons, our clothes, the map, half a purse of money, and an incomplete Belt. We need to buy supplies and find a safe place to rest before we carry on to the Shifting Sands."

    Jasmine, rather than argue or make a catty remark, instead had stopped listening and was concentrating on something else. 

     "I hear carts and the sound of feet," she said. "Voices, too-there's a large road ahead."

     Sure enough, a few more minutes and the trail met a broad highway, upon which a horse-drawn cart was approaching from the right with several people walking beside it.

     "It seems we are not the only travelers on the road," Endon mused. "They look harmless enough." 

    "Still, it might be wise, my king, to wait until they have passed," Barda said. "We can't afford too many questions." 

   And so the four of them hid among the trees and watched as the cart passed. The people talked and laughed with each other loudly, as though all was well. Lief heard the word "Rithmere" repeated several times-evidently, Rithmere was a town, and these people were eager to reach it.

    "There must be a festival or fair being held in this Rithmere place," Endon said, his face breaking into a grin.

    "A festival? Held in these times?" Barda grunted. "I cannot believe it." 

    "Why?" Lief asked. "What's a festival?"

    Barda snorted. 

    "A large party or celebration, held by a town or city," he said with a laugh. "Surely you've seen a couple in Del, rare though they may be." 

     "What...is a _party_?" Lief asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. 

     Barda's eyes widened. 

     "You...don't know what a _party_ is? How-how?"  

      "A party," Endon explained, "Is a large gathering of people, at which there is food, talking, and, occasionally, dancing. Usually to celebrate something, but occasionally thrown just for fun. Did...the Shadow Lord or Fallow ever organize something like that? Like, say, for a birthday or-" 

     Lief chuckled. 

     "I told you, _I'm an Ol_ ," he said. "Birthdays are a human thing. I was _made_ -made in the Factory."

    "So you...don't know how old you are?" Barda gasped. 

    Lief shook his head and smiled. 

    "Of course I do! I'm sixteen years old." 

    "And you know that because..." 

    "Because according to my father, I was made at around the end of summer," Lief explained. "So each year around that time, I mark the year on a wall in my room, and because there are sixteen tallies on that wall, that's how I know I'm sixteen. Well, technically, I only started when I was about six, so I first had to make six marks before I could just make just make one mark yearly. But the principle's the same." 

      Fallow had always hated this little habit, saying it was a waste of time. But it was the Shadow Lord who first introduced him to the concept, and had told him how many tallies to make via crystal.

    "At summer's end, you say?" Endon interjected.

     Lief shrugged. 

     "Or the early autumn. Depends on how you put it." 

     Endon cleared his throat. 

     "At any rate," he said. "If Rithmere is to the left along this road, then it is perfectly situated on the way to the Shifting Sands. And a town will have all the shops we need to buy supplies at-and plenty of inns to rest in, too."

    When the cart was past, the four travelers crept out of the trees and began walking alongside the road. They had not gone far before Lief saw the most curious notice. It was an advertisement for what looked to be a contest of some sort. It offered a hundred good coins to all the finalists, and a thousand to the winner. Lief beamed. 

     Perhaps there was a way he could get Endon alone after all...and to avoid killing Jasmine and Barda.

      "Look," he said, showing them the notice, "A contest! One that offers money!" 

      Endon shrugged. 

     "We already have that," he said. "Granted, not as much as I like, but still..." 

    "No, but you see," Lief continued, "the winner of this contest will earn a thousand gold coins. That, I wager, is enough to buy a very nice house in Del, and live comfortably for quite a while. And wouldn't that be a just reward for a certain former guardsman?"   
      "And you're so fond of Barda all of a sudden?" Endon, a knowing smile crawling upon his lips.

      "Well, not just Barda," Lief said. "Jasmine, too, depending...depending on..." 

      "Depending on what?" Jasmine snapped. 

      "Whether or not you become Endon's wife, of course," Lief replied.

      The jaws of Endon, Barda, and Jasmine all dropped in unison. 

      "What? Where did you get _that_ idea?" Jasmine exclaimed.

      "Don't...don't pretend like you don't know!" Lief stammered. "I...I saw you, talking to Endon about...how women...bleed once a month! He...he was _clearly_ trying to seduce you! To make you his mistress! For all I know it worked! You...you could be carrying his child right now for all I know!" 

      Both Endon and Jasmine burst into laughter. 

     "You think... _I_ would mate with _him_?" Jasmine guffawed.

     "Yes, you do realize," Endon agreed, nearly bent over with laughter, "That _she_ is a sixteen-year-old girl and _I_ am a middle-aged man?" 

     "What difference does that make?" Lief exclaimed. "I've seen _plenty_ of married couples where the woman is young and the man is old! It doesn't stop them, why should it stop you?" 

     "Because," Endon explained. "Jasmine is not a woman, she's a _girl_. Meaning, she's a _child_. And as _I_ am an adult, it would be highly immoral of me to either marry _or_ impregnate her."

      "But...but...she's old enough to feel romantic feelings..." Lief said. 

      "Being old enough to feel romantic feelings does not make someone an adult," Endon countered. "And it certainly doesn't make someone ready to enter into a relationship with an adult." 

      "And besides, I don't even have any feelings like that," Jasmine said. "Plus, I'm fairly positive I'm not pregnant, since I don't think I've done anything that could make me pregnant." 

      "And how would you know what gets a woman pregnant?" Barda asked. "Endon hasn't even explained that much to you yet!" 

      Jasmine shrugged. 

      "I've seen animals mate," she said. "Several types of animals. So I have a pretty good guess as to how humans mate. And I haven't done any of _that_ with Endon, nor will I ever. Plus, the monthly bleeding thing happened recently, and Endon says that doesn't happen to pregnant women. So I'm pretty certain I'm not pregnant." 

     Lief sighed in relief. Endon had no interest in her. 

     "Good," he said. "Then you can share the thousand-gold-coin prize with Barda once he wins it!" 

     Jasmine's eyes widened. 

    "Wait, you think I'd just _leave_ you alone, _with_ Endon? Not a chance."

    "Plus," Endon added, "We only have three gems. So, I'm afraid we'll be passing on this contest of yours." 


	7. Let The Games Begin!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to Rithmere. Lief and Jasmine bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I note that the viewership for this fic has slowed lately, and I wonder if that's due to certain plot elements-plot elements concerning Endon- or just a lack of updates.  
> -I appreciate the kudos, though, wolfraven!

               A couple of days later, when Rithmere, Lief found himself extremely grateful that Endon had rejected his idea to compete in the tournament. It had been more than six days since that wonderful meal at Noradz, and the apples from the orchard did nothing to minimize the gnawing hunger he currently felt. 

        And the bushes growing at the side of the road were all but empty of berries, thanks to travelers both recent and previous. And the more they traveled, the more crowded the highway became. The travelers, despite depriving Lief and his marks of food, though, did provide one essential service: news. While the four of them, out of practicality, talked to their fellow travelers as little as possible, the other travelers were still quite chatty amongst themselves. 

          From these travelers, they'd learned that the Games had been held annually for the past ten years, and had become famous enough that contestants now came from everywhere to seek their fortune in Rithmere. They also learned that Grey Guards were seldom seen in Rithmere while the Games were in progress-which was good, for both Lief and his marks. The travelers would not be hunted, and Lief would not be discovered by his father's servants.

         "They know better than to interfere with something so popular," Lief heard a tall, red-haired woman say to her friend, a giant of a man whose muscles rivaled even Barda's.

          "A thousand gold coins," the man muttered. "Or even a hundred! Think of the difference it would make-to us, to all at home." 

          The man stared at the city ahead and smiled. 

          "This year we will be finalists at least, Joanna. I can feel it." 

         "You have never been stronger, Orwen," the woman agreed. "And I too have a good chance. Last year I let that bitch Brianne of Lees trip me. It won't happen again." 

         Orwen put a brawny arm around her shoulders.

        "You can't blame yourself for losing to Brianne. After all, she went on to become Champion. And the people of Lees poured everything into preparing her." 

         "She was treated like a queen," Joanna said bitterly. "They thought she would be their salvation. And what did she do? Ran off with the money as soon as she had it in her hand." 

         "Of course," the man agreed grimly. "A thousand gold coins is a great fortune. Few Champions return to their old homes after they win. Most don't want to share their wealth, so they hurry off to start a new life somewhere else."

         "But you would never do that, Orwen," Joanna declared. "And neither would I. I would rather throw myself into the Shifting Sands."

         Lief couldn't help but nod in agreement. So would he. If the Shadow Lord was financially dependent on him winning a tournament, he wouldn't dream of running off with the winnings and leaving his father to dry.

         Wasn't that what he was doing, though? By letting Endon live, was he any better than Brianne? Wasn't he just doing the exact same thing, only with a country at stake instead of some gold coins? Yes, there were _many_ questionable aspects about his father's rule-many, _many_ questionable aspects-but by letting Endon live, and helping him, Lief was still leaving his loved ones out to dry, just like her.

      ***

      Rithmere was excessively crowded, yet absurdly happy despite it. And there was an abundance of merchants, who stood in stalls which lined the streets, calling out to the people, advertising their goods in loud, cheery voices.  There were musicians, dancers, fire-eaters, and jugglers on every corner, performing their art and catching coins thrown to them by passerby. Some performers were assisted by animals-snakes, dogs, dancing bears, and strange creatures none of the four travelers had ever seen. 

      It was exhausting, glorious, and absolutely nothing like Del. Del was solemn and fearful, with any and all bustle closely watched over by the Grey Guards. Indeed, the only thing the two cities had in common were the beggars-thin miserable, pleading for money, and ignored by everyone. 

      "So _this_ is a festival!" Lief exclaimed,  his eyes widened in surprise. 

      "This is nothing like Noradz," Jasmine gasped. "I never knew there could be so many people at once."

      Endon smiled. 

      "Why don't you two go have fun while I find us someplace to stay for the night?" he said. 

      Both Lief and Jasmine turned to stare at Endon. 

      "What?" they exclaimed in unison. 

       "You heard me," Endon said. "Go and have fun. It'll be good for you. And besides, it could go a long way towards keeping the peace in our little group." 

       "Keeping the-" Jasmine gasped. "Endon, you do realize that Lief is-?"

       "Plotting to kill me, yes," Endon interrupted. "He's been doing that since before we met him. But he's never _actually_ attempted to kill me, has he? Not only that, he's actually done the direct opposite multiple times. Some of which were clearly on purpose. And given that the ruby has yet to pale in his presence, forgive if I'm not overly terrified of the boy." 

       "Not to mention," Barda added with a chuckle, "He's more likely to sprout wings than actually try anything." 

       Lief's eyes widened in horror. So this was how they viewed him? As some sort of de-fanged guard dog? It...it couldn't be.

       With that, Barda and Endon turned and started walking away, leaving Lief and Jasmine alone.

      "So," Lief began, glancing at a nearby fire-eater, not knowing what else to do. "How do you think that man does it?"

      "What? Can't Ols eat fire?" Jasmine harrumphed. 

      "Actually, no," Lief replied. "At least, not to my knowledge. I suppose a Grade 1 or 2 Ol could theoretically do it, given that they can only die by being stabbed in the heart, but a Grade 3 Ol would probably die in the attempt." 

     "Really?" Jasmine asked. "I thought the Shadow Lord would've thought to make all his Ols fireproof." 

     Lief chuckled. 

     "Wouldn't that be nice? Would've made escaping the City of the Rats a whole lot easier. But, sadly, no. That's the price you pay for perfect shape-shifting abilities, I guess." 

     "Abilities which you don't even have," Jasmine mused. "Allegedly."

      Lief half smiled. 

      "Still don't trust me, eh? I've always respected that about you." 

      Jasmine's eyes widened.

      "You have? And here I thought you saw me as being no different than Endon and Barda, and all the clearly inferior humans." 

       Lief rolled his eyes. 

       "You are _nothing_ like Endon and Barda. And besides," 

        Lief glanced at a nearby stall and saw that it was selling those wonderful sticks of meat like the ones in Noradz. 

       "Humans can't be _that_ inferior if they're capable of making such wonderful things. You want to go get some food?" 

       Jasmine raised an eyebrow. 

       "Why? Is your time limit up already?" 

       Lief smiled. 

       "Yes. It has been more than six days. And for the first time in my life, I am eager to eat." 

       "The... _first time_?" Jasmine gasped. 

       "I may need to eat less than humans do, but my need for food is still a defect," Lief pointed out. "So eating wasn't exactly a pleasant experience growing up." 

       Indeed, in his earlier years he used to make himself scarce rather than deal with the process of eating his usual stale bread and jerky while a smug Fallow looked at him with contempt. This behavior had earned him a right smack to the face most of the time, naturally, and he'd always end up having to eat anyway.

        They ordered food, and were soon happily wolfing down sticks of meat while continuing to watch the fire eater. Then someone shouted, 

       "Hey, you! Girl with the black bird! Over here!" 

       Lief and Jasmine turned, and found that a fat man with long, greasy hair was beckoning to Jasmine. The two youngsters walked over to him, and saw that he was sitting at a small table covered by a cloth that reached the ground, upon which stood a perch, a basket of painted wooden birds, and a wheel decorated with pictures of birds and coins, each coins depicting a different numerical value. 

      "A gambling game," Lief mused, upon seeing the entirety of the setup. "And the prize is...worthless wooden birds. How quaint." 

      The fat man grinned.

      "You only get a bird if you lose."

      "So you offer your gamblers consolation prizes?" Lief said. "Interesting."

     "What _is_ gambling?" Jasmine asked. 

      "A curious human vice I've had a few chances to observe over the course of my career," Lief told her. "I've never indulged in it, but from what I've gathered, the gist of it seems to be that you put down a certain amount of money before starting to play a game, and if you win, you earn a very large sum of money, which you can add to the money you previously put down. Most people never actually win, though. Instead they just continue to lose money until they're out of it." 

     "But if they never win, why do they play?" Jasmine asked. 

     "I don't know," Lief admitted. "I think that some of them play for the same reason drunkards drink-they just have to, for some reason." 

     "Well, I don't have to play," Jasmine said. "And I don't think I plan to, since we've already lost half our money." 

    "I'm not asking you to play, girl," the man snapped. "No one can play unless I get a new bird to spin the wheel. Speaking of which, would you mind selling me your bird?" 

     Jasmine shook her head violently. 

    "Absolutely not," she said. "Come, Lief, let's go." 

    "Indeed," Lief agreed, allowing Jasmine to link her arm with his, "I have no desire to aid a man in exploiting people for profit." 

    Just as they turned to go, however, the fat man called after them, his voice thick with desperation, 

    "But how will I earn my living? If I go to get another pigeon, I'll lose my spot and half a day's earnings. Have you no pity?" 

     And then Lief was done. This man had found it. That one weakness no amount of experiments could undo. A soft heart. 

     "Jasmine, maybe we should reconsider-" he began, unable to stop himself. "Maybe you could just let him borrow Kree for a few minutes-" 

     "The man is acting," Jasmine snapped. "Kree says that there is a purse at his belt bulging with coins. Honestly, for a master assassin like yourself, you sure are soft-hearted." 

      Lief hung his head and sighed. 

      "I know," he groaned. "Believe me, my father hated it just as much as you do." 

      "No, it's actually rather nice," Jasmine mused as they walked further away from the fat man. "Admirable, actually, that despite your background, mission, and, well, _species_ , you still have an ability to trust people enough to care about random strangers." 

     "You...you think my greatest weakness is _admirable_?" Lief gasped. 

      The mere idea of his blasted caring being a strength in anyone's view was a shock. He felt rather like an ugly girl being praised for having warts. 

     "Why is it a _weakness_?" Jasmine scoffed, raising an eyebrow. 

     "Because," Lief explained, aghast at her confusion. "It makes you weak, stupid-" 

     "Let me guess, your father told you that." 

     "Yes, well..."

     "Well, then, it's obviously bunk," Jasmine scoffed.

     "Why is something wrong just because my father says it?" Lief protested. "If my father said the sky was blue, would you suddenly insist it was green?"

     "No, because the sky _is_ blue," Jasmine explained. "I'm not going to begrudge him the right to be right about the physical world. But you have to admit he's not exactly a shining pillar of morality." 

      Lief would have protested, except that the longer he spent letting Endon live, the more he was finding evidence to prove Jasmine's assertion right. 

     Eventually, they happened upon what appeared to be a small archery contest, or rather, a combination archery and knife-throwing contest.

     "Step right up, step right up," the portly overseer called out to the crowds. "Step up and try your hand at winning one of many prizes!" 

     "Hopefully none of them are wooden birds," Lief whispered to Jasmine, who chuckled.

     "You!" the overseer exclaimed, pointing at Lief. "You want to win a prize for your sweetheart?" 

     "I..." Lief gasped, flushing red at the mere mention. "She's not...she's not my... _we're siblings!_ "

      The overseer rolled his eyes. 

      "Yes, and I'm a prize chicken. So anyway, it works like this: successfully shoot three arrows or throw three knives at or near the bull's eye, and I'll let you take away one of these fine pieces of jewelry-"

       The overseer pointed to a small chest filled with moonstone necklaces and bracelets, 

       "Fail and you take away nothing. It only costs one silver coin to try." 

      Lief shrugged. 

      "I...I've never heard of this," he confessed. "I never saw anything like this in Del!" 

     "It's a fairly new invention of mine," the overseer declared proudly. "Well? Are you going to try or not." 

     "I...I guess I'll try," Lief said as he handed the overseer a coin. 

     The overseer then directed Lief towards the targets, where Lief then unslung his bow and proceeded, in three quick shots, to have a neat little line across the bull's eye. The crowd erupted in cheers as the overseer took out a bracelet from the chest and handed it to Lief. Lief then proceeded to hand it to Jasmine, saying, 

        "I...believe I was supposed to give you this. That's...that's what the overseer said, anyway." 

        Jasmine smiled, put the bracelet around her left wrist, and then handed the overseer a silver coin, causing the overseer's eyebrows to shoot up in confusion. 

        "What, are only men obligated to win prizes for their sweethearts?" she asked with a grin. 

        "I...I...um," Lief stammered, fairly certain Jasmine did not trust him enough to consider him her 'sweetheart', and confused as to why she would pretend so in public. 

       The overseer wordlessly handed her some knives, where she made a little cluster around the bull's eye, to the delight of the crowd. The overseer then went over to the little chest and handed Jasmine a moonstone necklace. Jasmine then, much to Lief's surprise, began to place the moonstone necklace around Lief's neck. 

       "Now we're even," she said with a grin. 

        Just then a thief snatched the coin purse from Jasmine's belt, and, as soon as he was spotted, tore off. Lief dashed off after him, speeding through the confused onlookers and fair-goers, determined to get back their funds. And he would have been successful, were it not for the fact that the thief decided to make a series of impressive leaps up onto some stacked crates and then onto the roof. 

         It would have been a fairly simple thing for Lief to then use the crates to follow, but the crates had not been stacked in a stable manner, and toppled to the ground after the thief leapt up upon the roof. No matter. Lief had jumped onto fairly tall buildings from the ground before; the Shadow Lord had made sure, via his experiments, to bestow this ability on Lief long before he went on his first mission as the Bloodhound. 

       So Lief attempted it, and, in the attempt, did not get so much as an inch off the ground before landing back down. Not only that, but the moment he landed, Lief buckled over and, to his shock, vomited out a tiny, disgusting heap of black ooze. Then, once said ooze was out of his system, everything went black...

       When Lief awoke, he found himself in a bed, with the worried eyes of Endon, Barda, and Jasmine staring down at him. 

       "Thank goodness," Endon said, sighing in relief. "We thought...well, we didn't know what to think when we found you near that...hideous pile of vomit."

       "This isn't...a routine part of being an Ol, is it?" Jasmine asked, sounding oddly worried. "Fainting and vomiting up a bunch of horrible black goo?" 

       Lief sat up and shook his head. 

       "No," he reassured them. "No it isn't. As a matter of fact, it's never happened to me before." 

       Lief glanced around, and saw that that they were all in what appeared to be a bedchamber at a relatively respectable inn. 

        "So...would you care to tell me where we are?" Lief asked.

        "We," Endon announced with some displeasure, "Are at the _Champion Inn,_ the residence of choice for all those competing the games.And, thanks to this idiot here," 

          Endon  scowled and elbowed Barda, 

         "We are _also_ competitors." 

         Lief's jaw dropped. 

        "What?! No, no, I...you expressly said-" 

        "I know," Endon groaned, "But since we couldn't apprehend the thief, we had no choice. And it gets worse." 

       "Worse?" Lief cried. "How does it get worse?"

        "Because," Jasmine groaned. "Thanks to Barda, we are all from a place called  _Bushtown_." 

       "I was put on the spot!" Barda protested. "I didn't have time to think of anything better!" 

       "Evidently not," Jasmine snapped. "Since you chose to give me the name _Birdie_!" 

        Lief burst out laughing. 

        "Birdie? Seriously, Barda? That's the best alias you came up with? What did you name yourself, Big Strong Burly Man?"

        "As a matter of fact, his name is Berry," Endon told them. "He would have named you Twig, but fortunately I stepped in." 

        "Yes, _your_ fake name is _Jared_ ," Jasmine grumbled. "Lucky you."

        "And as for me, I took on the name of my late father-Alton," Endon said. 

        Lief raised an eyebrow. 

        "You're not competing though, right? Because you do realize, Endon, that if you die-" 

        "Oh, but I am," Endon told him. "And so are you." 

        "No," Lief gasped. "No-I was unconscious-"

       Barda shook his head. 

       "This inn is for competitors," he said. "And only competitors. If you want a bed, you have to compete. Those were the rules." 

       "Speaking of which," Jasmine added. "We've all been sorted into-"

       Then, all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door, and a voice which asked, 

        "Is Jared up yet?"

        Jasmine groaned. 

        "That's the innkeeper. She's been asking that ever since we got you in here," she whispered to Lief. 

        "Yes, Mother Brightly," Endon answered as he turned towards the door. "You can come in now."

       The door opened with a bang, and a plump woman in a frilly, bright green dress burst into the room. 

       "Now, my dear," the woman said, opening up a small book and readying her quill, "I already have your measurements, and despite your...illness...I have every confidence you'll succeed, little Jared. Now, all I need is your special talent."

        "Special...talent?" Lief exclaimed, thoroughly confused. 

       "It's this weird category thing she's put us in," Jasmine said, raising her arm, which had a blue band tied around it, "My category's agility, so I got this blue thing. Ba-Berry and Alton were put down for strength, and so they got the red ones."

        Strength and agility, eh? Lief had never been particularly strong, at least, not much stronger than the average man, and definitely not stronger than Barda. Early in Lief's life, the Shadow Lord had put him through one or two experiments attempting to give him super-human strength, but none of them had ever succeeded. If he'd been asked this question on any other day, he'd have put himself down for agility. While it wasn't his main strength, it wasn't a weakness, either. But...given that the execution of his leaping power had utterly failed him...

       "Are Strength and agility the only two categories?" Lief asked. 

        "Oh, no, Jared," the plump woman assured him. "There's Speed, and-" 

          Speed. Speed would do. Even before the experiment that had made him abnormally fast, he'd always been quick on his feet. In truth, the experiment that had bestowed his abnormal speed had not really given him anything so much as it had enhanced what was already there. 

        "Speed," Lief said. "Put me down for Speed, madam." 

         The plump woman tittered. 

         "Oh, there's no need for such formality, Jared," she said. "Call me Mother Brightly." 

         Mother Brightly then proceeded to tie a green band around his arm, which, Lief observed, had his fake name and measurements on it. 

         "Now, don't take this off, even to sleep," Mother Brightly said. "They mark you as official competitors, show your talent, and entitle you to food and drink and entrance to the Games." 

         Mother Brightly clapped her hands. 

         "Now, you must all be very hungry. Come, follow me." 

         With that, the four travelers followed Mother Brightly out of their room, and down a hallway to a large dining room, which was packed with fellow competitors wearing red, green, and blue wristbands, who drank and ate with gusto. 

         Lief looked around, and observed Joanna and Orwen sitting down at a center table. And sitting near them was Endon's rebel friend, Jarred, whom they had met in Tom's shop, and who had denied knowing Endon.  His eyes were on them, but there was not so much as a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. 

         Endon drew in a sharp breath. 

        "What's _Jarred_ doing here?" he gasped.

        "Probably he wants to win an enormous fortune, like everyone else," Barda scoffed.

        Endon shook his head. 

       "In a fighting competition?" Endon pointed out. "No. Jarred was never so greedy as to risk losing a leg just to win gold."

       "Losing a _leg_?" Lief exclaimed. 

        "Yes," Jasmine murmured. "According to Mother Brightly, that happened two years ago to some guy in the final round." 

       "Final round?" Lief gasped. "No. No. This is not worth it. I'm not risking anyone losing anything. Come on. Let's leave." 

       He took a few steps back, only for Mother Brightly to say sweetly, 

       "Oh, but my dears, you can't leave. Your names are in the book. You have your wristbands." 

       "Do you mean..." Endon asked. "That we are prisoners?" 

       "Prisoners? Oh, no. You are our guests," she said. "Who have willingly come here to compete. But still, you can't leave. But why would you want to? You have the look of finalists, all four of you!" 

       Mother Brightly then led them to a table, where the four sat down to a meal that was somber. 

       "Excellent job, Ba- _Berry_ , " Jasmine snapped. "You've gotten us trapped in a death match where we can't escape from." 

      "Hey!" Barda protested. "I had no idea those were the rules! I've...I've...none of us had even heard of the games until a few days ago." 

     Endon, meanwhile, simply chose to stare at Jarred, to examine him as if he could determine the man's motives merely by looking. Lief, on the other hand, simply chose to eat and stew in his own problems. 

     For starters, he still had no way of killing Endon, and what was worse, his desire to do so was slipping away with each passing day. And the longer he waited, the longer he helped them, the more likely it was that Lief's father would be ousted.

      And not only that, but one of his powers had failed him. No, it hadn't just failed; the very attempt had caused him to become _sick._ Sick! As in, _ill_! Granted, it was brief, but Lief hadn't been sick since he was nine! And shouldn't be able to, thanks to one of his father's experiments. Granted, that experiment had only given him immunity against minor diseases such as colds, fevers, and the flu, but the very fact he needed an experiment to give him such an immunity was of course, part of why he was defective. As Fallow had taken great pleasure in reminding him every time he fell ill, no _true_ Ol should be vulnerable to things like stuffy noses and nausea.

     Was this the Shadow Lord punishing him for disobedience? Had the Shadow Lord decided to take Lief's powers away because Lief hadn't killed Endon? But if that was the case, then how come Lief had been able to leap up into treetops to spy on Endon long after he'd decided to postpone Endon's death? Why were his powers only failing _now_? Not to mention, in all of Lief's years, the Shadow Lord had always been direct in communicating displeasure. Taking away powers from a distance without explanation was the opposite of direct. And if the Shadow Lord could take away his powers from all the way in the Shadowlands, he could certainly reprimand him more directly from that distance. 

     Not to mention, was it really all that guaranteed that the Shadow Lord knew Lief had directly helped them? At first, Lief had thought so, but the fact that the Shadow Lord had not stopped the Grey Guards from pointlessly taking away Jasmine's parents indicated that maybe Lief's father wasn't as omniscient as Lief had thought. It could be just as likely that the Shadow Lord thought Lief was merely failing to kill them, as opposed to helping them. 

     But if it wasn't the Shadow Lord, then what? What else was powerful enough-

      The Belt. The Belt was powerful enough. Granted, it was incomplete, but still...Lief was the Shadow Lord's creation, something which it was designed to repel. And a few days ago, Lief had _touched_ it-actually _touched_ it.  An act which could have killed him...but didn't. 

       What if, instead of his father, it was the Belt which was responsible for taking away one of his powers? Yes. That made sense. It was incomplete, which meant it couldn't kill him, but it could gradually incapacitate him until he did die. 

       That was not good. Not good at all. 

       After dinner, the four left the dining room to try and get back to their room, which was a difficult task, for the hallways were a maze, and Lief just knew there were many eyes upon them as they walked. 

      "Someone's following us," Jasmine said. "And I think they're trying to put us out of the way before the Games begin." 

      Of course. There was no way a contest which offered that much money wouldn't be packed to the brim with cutthroats who'd happily slit their competitor's throats. 

      Lief's hand moved to his sword-only to see that it was gone. And so was his bow. 

      "Mother Brightly took our weapons and locked them up," Barda explained. "She didn't want us carrying weapons in the inn."

       At last they reached the hallway containing their room, which was right at the end. But just as they rushed toward it, the lights went out, and it was dim. Well, dim for Lief-the Shadow Lord, not wanting his Bloodhound to be impeded by an inability to see in the dark, had of course experimented on Lief to give him a reasonable amount of night vision. Not as much night vision as the Shadow Lord had wanted, of course-there were still plenty of things hidden from Lief's view at night. But still, it was not the total blackness enveloping his companions. 

        And he still was not capable of seeing in back of him, as evidenced when, as Lief tripped and fell, he felt a glancing blow on his shoulder. Barda shouted and swore, and then there was a thump, a crash, and an angry hiss of pain. Then a scuffling noise, the sound of running, and then silence. 

      "Lief! Barda! Endon! Are you-" 

      Lief answered, and to his relief, made out the faint outline of Endon and Barda beside him as well. The two men then answered Jasmine's call, and then, as suddenly as it went out, the light was on again.

       Jasmine's left hand was placed to protect Filli, while her right hand held her second dagger, which was dripping with red blood. Behind Jasmine, a trail of blood drops marked the floor all the way to the corner.

      "Good," Jasmine hissed as she observed the blood, "That will teach them that we are not easy marks. Cowards, to attack us from behind in the dark."

      Barda staggered to his feet and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

      "They stole our key, and left this," he said, frowning as he stared at the paper. 

      "Do not try to win tomorrow, or you will regret it," Endon read aloud, leaning over Barda's shoulder to look at the paper. "But we were never trying to win. We signed up for this by accident." 

       "Nevertheless," Jasmine declared, loudly enough for anyone to hear, "Whoever attacked us made a mistake. Whatever we might have thought before, we are not running away now." 

       "And it will not be we who regret it," Barda agreed proudly. "Isn't that right, Lief?" 

       "Yes," Lief agreed. "We'll regret nothing."

       After all, Lief might have lost one power, but he was still the Bloodhound. And _nobody_ attacked the Bloodhound with impunity. 

       And so the four of them walked to their room, and slept soundly through the night. But they forgot one thing: keys can lock doors as well as unlock them. 

       Thus, when the four of them woke the next morning, they found that they had been locked inside, with no way of getting out. 

       After all, they couldn't win if they couldn't attend, right? 

 

      


	8. Are You Not Entertained?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lief, Barda, Jasmine, and Endon become effectively gladiators sans the killing bit. They then travel to the Shifting Sands and get the fourth gem.

      Eventually, after a long while, Mother Brightly came by and rescued the travelers from their predicament. Fortunately for them, it was not too late for breakfast, although the dining hall was empty. And so they ate and quaffed foaming mugs of Queen Bee Cider, a drug which Lief had thought far too easily distributed the night before, an opinion which the morning meal only strengthened.

      Once Barda, Jasmine, and Endon had eaten their fill, they were led to the arena, the stands of which were packed with people, and which surrounded a large field of sand where all the competitors stood, raising their hands. Among them was the mysterious Jarred, whom, Lief observed, had a piece of cloth tied around his neck like a scarf.

      _To hide the wound made by Jasmine's dagger, no doubt_ , Lief thought, trying hard to suppress his anger. If this puny little rebel thought he could defeat the Bloodhound so easily, well, he had another think coming.

*** 

       They were soon divided into pairs, which fought one at a time, until the other could no longer stand. The loser was dragged away, and after resting, the winner was paired with another winner to fight again. And there was no such thing as a fair fight in the Rithmere Games-any and all dirty tactics could and were deployed. Only weapons were forbidden. 

       The crowd was an enthusiatic bunch, roaring and cheering their favorites on as they waved their little flags. Sellers of food hawked their wares and did a fine trade, alongside sellers of Queen Bee Cider, much to Lief's disdain.

       There were soon a great many injured competitors sulking as they stomped on out of the arena to nurse their injuries and wounded pride. The fights became more intense the more they went on, but Lief, Jasmine, Barda, and even Endon, much to Lief's surprise, managed to survive every round. 

      At last, the sun sank into the sky and the eight finalists were announced. Lief, Jasmine, Barda, and Endon were among them, and so was Orwen, much to Lief's delight. Joanna was not; the other three finalists were a short, muscular man called Glock, a woman called Nerida, and, of course, the mysterious Jarred, who apparently chose to go by the name of Doom. 

        " A fitting name for such a character," Barda muttered. 

        "Oh, come on, Barda," Endon moaned. "Surely you have to admit that Jarred was not always like this." 

        "Yes," Barda admitted. "There was a time when he was above ambushing people in the dark. But nevertheless, I do not relish the thought of fighting him now." 

        "Neither do I," Endon said. "I should hate to come to blows with him." 

        "Speaking of which," Lief interrupted. "I hadn't expected us all to be finalists. Therefore, that poses a problem-what do we do if we're forced to fight each other?" 

        Jasmine smiled. 

        "Why, we decide who is to win, then pretend to fight," she replied. "Just like we will for our other opponents-after all, there's no need to risk injury when we all are assured of a hundred gold coins each." 

       "Agreed," Lief said, a smile creeping up onto his face. "Four hundred gold coins is more than enough." 

       "But...what about your retirement plan?" Endon asked. "You know...where Barda and Jasmine spend the rest of their lives living off the grand prize?" 

       "That," Lief told Endon, "Was before I discovered the games were a series of fights to near death."

       Barda shuffled restlessly, plainly disturbed by the idea of deliberately throwing fights. 

       "No, we should continue to try and win," he protested. "It would not be honorable..." 

        "Not honorable?" Jasmine exclaimed. "What has honor to do with this? Lief- tell him how ridiculous he's being!" 

        "Well, it is a little dishonest," Lief admitted. "But then again, making money by beating others to a bloody pulp doesn't strike me as particularly honorable either." 

        Jasmine smiled.

        "See?" she declared. "See what I mean?" 

        "And what would _he_ know about honor?" Barda huffed as they walked away from the arena.  "He was raised by a drug-addled hedonist and a neglectful father!" 

        "My father is _not_ neglectful!" Lief protested. "He's just...busy, that's all." 

       "Yes, because all the truly caring fathers abandon their children in a foreign country to be raised by drug-addicts," Barda replied, rolling his eyes. 

*** 

     Dinner that night was different, for now it was empty and echoing, with only the eight finalists in the room, whereas the first night it was bustling with people. Apparently the defeated competitors were sent packing. 

     Barda was still angry, of course, and still glaring at Lief, who glared at him back. 

    "How can you defend him?" Barda fumed. "Honestly, how? He calls you defective, performs foul experiments on you, he-" 

    Jasmine shrugged. 

    "Leave him be," she said as she took a sip of water. She refused to drink the Queen Bee Cider, Lief had observed. Apparently, it was too rich for her tastes. 

     "I tried talking some sense into him yesterday, but he wouldn't listen." 

     "Well, how would you feel if I insulted _your_ father?" Lief snapped. 

    "My father was a good man who did his best to care of me before he was tragically taken away," Jasmine replied calmly. "There's nothing mean you could possibly say about him." 

     Just then Mother Brightly rang a small bell. 

     "One word before you retire," she announced. "I want no trouble here tonight, so I'll be taking your keys and locking your doors myself. I will unlock them in the morning after the waking bell. So sleep soundly, and regain your strength. Tomorrow you must fight as best as you can. The crowd-" 

      Mother Brightly laughed nervously. 

      "Well, the crowd is always very...excited on the final day. It's a well-known fact that finalists who don't perform well get torn to pieces." 

      Mother Brightly then left, and Endon glowered down at the floor.

      "So this is how they keep the competitors motivated," he growled. "They use the crowd as a weapon, to make sure the competitors don't get clever. Disgusting. When I am once again king, I _swear_ I will outlaw this practice."

      "And the selling of Queen Bee Cider to spectators," Barda added. 

     "Yes. That too," Endon agreed. "Definitely that too." 

*** 

     The crowd simmered with excitement the next morning as the eight finalists walked into the arena. After repeating the pledge to do their best, Mother Brightly gave each finalist a card. 

     Lief's heart sank as he saw his card was number three. Ah well. If Lief was paired with Endon, at least he could incapacitate him in a way that wouldn't look suspicious to the others. Not that...he really wanted to, of course. 

       To his relief, he saw that Jasmine's number was 1, while Barda's was 4, and Endon's was 2.  Whoever Lief was fighting, he would not have to fight his marks.

       But Endon did have to fight the mysterious Jarred, whom, Lief saw with horror, was also holding a number 2. Glock had drawn a number 1, while Orwen had drawn a number 4, and Neridah...Neridah had drawn a number 3. 

      As the eight finalists threw down their cards and faced each other, Neridah looked down at the ground and said in a low voice, 

      "I have to admit, I'm a bit scared. How I reached the finals is beyond me. And you...you're one of Mother Brightly's favorites..." 

      Lief stared awkwardly at Neridah. One of the first lessons he'd learned in his career as the Bloodhound was that it was unwise to underestimate women. Female rebels could be just as crafty and vicious as male rebels. And he would certainly never underestimate Jasmine because of her gender. But Neridah...Neridah was different. She looked so gentle, so sweet. She reminded him of the crying wives who begged him not to arrest their rebel husbands, of little girls who begged him not to take away their daddies. 

     "I...I..." Lief stammered. "You don't have to be afraid...I..." 

      But then the starting bell rang, and Neridah's foot shot out and caught his shin, knocking Lief flat on his back. The crowd jeered and laughed, and in that moment it was as if a thousand Fallows, a thousand Dains, were sitting there, mocking him for his accursed weakness. 

     Lief scrambled to his feet. He was not weak. He was the Bloodhound, dammit; he would not be tricked by some greedy minx. He would prove to that crowd just how strong he was. 

    Neridah went to attack again, but Lief dodged, and hit her in the side. Thus began a long series of dodging and attacking, both of them a blur, until Lief caught her around the waist and threw her to the ground. 

      She fell and lay gasping, one arm limp and helpless. 

      "Please," she begged, but all Lief heard were the sneers of Fallow and Dain in his head, mocking him for being weak, and the Shadow Lord's admonishment to be tougher. 

      "I may be defective, but I am _not_ weak," Lief hissed, and with that, twisted a confused Neridah's arm, rendering it broken, and him the victor. 

      *** 

        This had to be the easiest fight she'd ever had. Yes, Glock was an enormous, beefy, warrior, but she'd won several matches against that kind of man only the day before. And yes, he was vicious, but he was also stupid. 

        And it was that same stupidity that got him knocked down on his back in the sand, with Jasmine declared the winner. 

*** 

       "Jarred," Endon panted, as he and Doom wrestled in the sand. "I know you remember me!"

      "All I remember," Doom snarled, "Is that you beat that Joanna lady in three seconds flat."

      "Surely there is more to it than that, Jarred," Endon protested as he reluctantly punched Doom. "Surely-" 

     "The only _Jared_ I know is the one currently fighting Neridah," Doom snapped. "You know, the one with the silly mask on his face."

      Endon glanced over and saw Lief leaning over Neridah and twisting her arm. 

      "It's not silly," Endon protested. "It's an order from a father he's too terrified to diso-" 

        While Endon was distracted, Doom took the opportunity to hook his leg around Endon's and punch Endon in the face.

       Endon proceeded to uppercut Doom in the throat, grab his shoulder, and plead,

        "We have both suffered enough, surely...surely there's no need to fight...we...we have a greater mission-" 

       Doom proceeded to grab Endon's wrist, twist it, and say, 

       "The only mission I have right now is to beat you to a bloody pulp, _Alton_."

        Endon winced at the name, and in that wince, Doom punched him and secured himself a victory. 

       ***

      Barda and Orwen were both pretty evenly matched, both being towering pillars of strength. However, Orwen had one advantage that Barda did not; he actually desired to win. 

      Yes, Barda was well aware that the crowd might tear him to pieces if he failed to give a good show. But he was more than capable of doing that while holding back. And yes, Lief and Jasmine would most assuredly call him a hypocrite. 

      But when he'd been matched with Orwen, it suddenly dawned on him: it didn't matter if Orwen beat him or not. At the end of the day, whether or not Barda went on to the finals, he'd still be walking out of this far richer than he'd started. And what would he do with the money, anyway? Well, first he'd buy supplies, but that wouldn't make a dent in the four hundred gold coins the four of them held in total. Once they left Rithmere, most likely he'd only spend money whenever he and the others next entered civilization on their travels. Something, which, so far, did not happen often, and did not always end well. 

      But Orwen...Orwen would put the prize money to good use. He'd use the one thousand gold coins to build homes and roads, feed the hungry, to cure the sick, to do things that needed to be done but couldn't be thanks to the Shadow Lord.

      Yes, deliberately throwing a fight was dishonorable. But denying Orwen a chance to fulfill his dream...after Joanna had already lost...that was worse. 

     And so Barda let Orwen pin him to the ground, and smiled as the crowds cheered Orwen's name.

 *** 

     "You did well against Neridah," Endon told Lief as Mother Brightly tended to Barda, "Despite her dirty tricks." 

      Barda frowned and stared at the floor.

     "Is something the matter, Barda?" Endon asked as he turned towards his friend.

     "It's just....something Lief said at the end of his fight," Barda mused. "He insisted that he wasn't...weak. But she never called him that, so why..."

     It was then that Lief realized that thanks his own self-loathing and issues with Fallow, he had hurt someone. And not for the Shadow Lord's sake, but for gain. Or, ostensibly for gain, at least. 

      Fallow, Dain, and the Shadow Lord would most likely congratulate Lief for it, yet somehow, that hypothetical congratulation didn't give him the happiness it would have before. Instead it filled him with...disgust. Shame. 

     But...but why? The Shadow Lord was his father, and the ruler of Deltora. Any approval from him meant that Lief was on the right path. Yet somehow...it didn't. 

      "I...I...I don't know," Lief stammered, and with that, he rushed off towards the center of the arena. 

       Lief walked to the center of the arena with the other three remaining finalists- and saw, to his horror, that Jasmine numbered among them. 

       It had been one thing to win against Neridah-she at least had been a stranger. But the pool of potential opponents had just been halved; meaning, there were only three possibilities for the next fight: Jasmine, Orwen, or Doom. 

        Meaning it was suddenly becoming very likely that he would be slated to fight against Jasmine. Someone whom, out of all his marks, had been his favorite since the beginning. And who recently, had started to trust him. Not because she pitied him, like Barda and Endon, but because she respected him. Even _after_ she'd discovered his weakness. 

       "Jasmine," Lief whispered, "If ever the two of us are matched up, you are going to be the winner." 

       Jasmine raised an eyebrow. 

       "Why? Because I'm a girl?" she asked. 

       Lief shook his head, bewildered at such a bizarre idea.

       "No," he replied. "Because...because...we're friends, aren't we? What gave you the idea that this was about gender?" 

       "Well, Barda mentioned to me last night that men of honor are apparently...supposed to take it easy on girls," she explained. "And I saw some of the competitors do just that yesterday-take it easy on their opponents because they were girls." 

       "That's absurd." 

       "I agree," Jasmine said. "But I'll take you up on your offer nonetheless. After all, you're the one missing out on the thousand gold coins." 

       "Well, it's not as if I _need_ the money," Lief pointed out as a dark-haired young man came around with a serving tray full of Queen Bee Cider. "Because of...you know." 

       Still, Lief took a mug off the tray and began drinking. Orwen and Doom did the same, but when the tray was offered to Jasmine, she shook her head and said, 

        "No...thank you. I...don't like Queen Bee Cider." 

       "Ah well, more for me then," Orwen declared happily, taking another mug of cider and drinking it greedily. Not a moment after he finished his second mug, he immediately collapsed to the ground. 

       Lief gasped and stared at the empty mug in his hand. 

       "I...I should have known you would try this," he cried, pointing at Doom. "You...you re-" 

       Before Lief could say the incriminating words, however, he too, fell to the ground unconscious. 

       The serving man immediately took to his heels and got lost in the crowd, members of which were already shouting and pointing accusing fingers. 

       "You...you did this!" Jasmine cried, staring at Doom. "That boy...you knew him!" 

       "What rubbish!" Doom hissed. 

        Jasmine glared at him. 

        "You think with the others out of the way, if you only fight me, you'll win? That the thousand gold coins will be yours! Think again. I will crush you into the dust, I will tear you apart with my bear hands!" 

        "We shall see," Doom said softly, turning his face away so she could not see it. 

      ***   
    If Glock had been the easiest opponent, well, Doom was the hardest. He was strong, cunning, and dangerous. Very dangerous. She was afraid of him, like she'd never been afraid of any other human before-the way she had once been afraid of Lief-albeit too tough to show it.   But Lief was a creature of the Shadow Lord specifically ordered to kill Endon-and any woman he saw Endon dallying with. This man-she had no idea why on earth she was afraid of him. 

      Perhaps, she thought, it's because he doesn't care whether he lives or dies. 

      A tiny spark leapt into Doom's eyes, and  Jasmine dodged just as Doom lunged for her. The crowd, having been denied the semi-finals, and they were tired of the circling and dodging. They wanted blood. 

       Breathing hard, Jasmine whirled around to face her opponent. 

       "Where is your boasting now, little bird?" Doom cried mockingly, his mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "You can't fight to save your life. Why don't you go home and cry on mommy's lap, huh?"

        A flame of white-hot anger burst through Jasmine, burning away her fear. Nobody insulted her mother like that. Nobody. 

        Jasmine looked up and saw to her satisfaction that Doom's smile had faded as he observed her anger. 

         "Catch me if you can," she hissed, half-turning to run.

          Taken by surprise, Doom stumbled forward, and Jasmine whirled around and kicked, and then whirled and kicked once more. As Doom tried to snatch at her, she leaped away from him, leaving him clutching at empty air. She jumped then attacked again and again.

          The arena became a blur as savage pleasure coursed through her body at Doom's pain,  the crowds cheering her on. Doom could not touch her; this was little more than a game now. Laughing, she danced backwards as Doom came at her, the crowd howling as he did. 

        Jasmine stepped back, and her heel hit solid wood. Glancing behind her in shock, she saw she had hit the stadium wall. And it was then she realized: she'd been tricked. Doom had been deliberately using her anger to push her to the edge of the arena, so that he could close in on her, as he was doing now...

       Jasmine sprang up and back, landing on the top of the wall. Doom's large hands reached for her ankles, and pure instinct caused her to jump, to spring up and out towards him, using his shoulders to balance for a split second. Then she thrust herself backward, launching herself into the air and sending Doom toppling forward. He crashed into the wall, while Jasmine landed lightly on her feet in the sand. And the crowd shrieked her name, the name of the Games' Grand Winner. 

*** 

       "So! It's all over for another year," Mother Brightly said as she patted Jasmine's shoulder. "And what a thrilling contest the final was! And what a popular champion you'll be, too. There's nothing the crowd likes more than seeing agility beat strength."

        Popular, yes. Owner of a massive fortune, yes. But neither of those things, nor the gold medallion around her neck, assuaged her conscience. It made her sick, thinking about what she'd become in the arena. She'd been a beast who took pleasure in other people's pain, a fool drunk on the rush of battle. 

      "Not too happy about having just become an independently wealthy woman, are you?" Lief whispered to Jasmine. "For what it's worth, I think I understand." 

      "Oh?" Jasmine asked. "What do you mean?" 

      "Well...when I beat Neridah, I didn't do it because I wanted the money," Lief confessed. "I did it because...she made a fool of me. Played on my weakness-my accursed soft heart. And I...was angry...I...I was reminded of Fallow, and my father, who used to chide me for that same thing. I did what I did...to prove to them, that I wasn't weak, I guess. That I could..." 

       Lief hung his head in shame. 

      "I know that my father would be delighted by my actions," he said. "But...for some reason, that doesn't make me happy. Which doesn't make sense-it should make me happy. But instead, it just wants to make me throw up." 

      "That man...he insulted my mother. He did it...on purpose. To make sure I forgot myself, to make me play for the crowd."

       Jasmine scowled. 

      "I don't know how on earth En-Alton could ever have been friends with someone like that," she said. 

       The four ate dinner at the inn one last time, and, after asking Mother Brightly for places to buy supplies at, they ended up buying the supplies they needed from her. Then, after that, Mother Brightly brought them their weapons and confessed to them, 

       "It's hard for me to say this, but you need to be told. It has been known for Champions and finalists to meet with...ill fortune on the way out of town." 

       "You mean they were attacked and robbed?" Endon replied, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise. 

       Mother Brightly nodded. 

       "Yes," she said. "Would you mind if I suggested you leave the inn by a secret way? There is a back door reached by a passage that runs from the cellar. That's how we bring in the cider-few people know of it, and you'll be able to slip out unseen." 

       "Absolutely," Lief agreed, clasping her hand. "Thank you, Mother Brightly. You are a good friend." 

        And so the four companions trudged through a long, low passageway from the cellar, shuffling along single file, forcing Barda to be bent almost double.

        "So," Endon chuckled, "What do you and Jasmine plan on doing with your fortune, Barda, now that you've won it? A nice house in Del, perhaps?" 

        "Nothing of the sort," Barda harrumphed. 

        "What do you mean?" Endon asked, confused. "I thought the plan was for you and Jasmine to share the wealth. Is that not the plan? Or is Jasmine thinking of keeping to herself? That'd be a wise strategy on her part, if she wants to escape the inevitable etiquette lessons that would come from living with you." 

      "No, we are," Barda said. "But not until after you've settled in on your throne. I am not so disloyal as to abandon you, my king. And besides-Jasmine would not like it if I left you alone with Lief. And neither would I like myself." 

      "I'm not sure Lief is healthy enough to try and kill me just yet," Endon pointed out. "He did, after all, faint and vomit a pile of black goo after attempting to chase a thief." 

      "Are we forgetting that I also was a semifinalist in a brutal fighting competition just of hours ago?" Lief snapped, not wanting to be thought incapable because of that one mishap. 

      "No," Barda replied. "And that's not why I don't want to leave you alone with Endon. The real reason is that I want to adopt you as well as Jasmine." 

      Both Jasmine and Lief gasped. 

      "What?" they said in unison. 

     "You really think I'd be happy sending you back to your father after all that I've heard about him?" Barda pointed out. "That man is not fit to raise a cabbage patch, let alone a child!" 

      "That...that's not true!" Lief protested. "I might not have been raised the way human children are, but don't you forget, I'm an _Ol_. A defective one, sure, but an Ol nonetheless. Training an Ol is a vastly different from raising a human child." 

       "I don't know," Endon mused, "Your relationship doesn't seem to me like the training of a soldier. It feels...familial, heck, you even use familial terms to describe each other! I kind of agree with Barda-anybody would be a better guardian than him!" 

       "Yeah,"  Jasmine agreed, "I mean, he is pretty cruel to you." 

       "Oh, look, I think I see light ahead," Lief said as he pointed towards the light up ahead, desperate to change the subject. 

        They hurried forward, and almost blinded by the glare of the light after the darkness of the tunnel, they crawled through the doorway one by one. And that was how they were all cracked over the head and captured. 

*** 

     When Lief came to his senses, he found himself covered by old sacks, and that his wrists and ankles were bound by heavy chains, and that, worst of all, his mask had been turned into a gag. Horrified, Lief quickly retied his mask and then further examined himself and his surroundings. 

         His money, sword, and bow had been taken, and he was on the back of a cart. Barda, Jasmine, and Endon were also in the cart, although a little further away. Well, at least he wasn't alone.

       Then a harsh voice said,

        "The ticks are waking, Carn 8. Should I give them another knock?"

         Carn 8...this was a pod of Grey Guards! They'd been captured by _Grey Guards_! Why, or how, Lief was not certain, but right now this was wonderful news. All Lief had to do was show them his face, explain who he was, and then, after a little bit of regicide, the Grey Guards could take him home and he could present the Belt to the Shadow Lord, who would do with it as he pleased. 

        It wouldn't be the best homecoming, but still-miles better from what he'd been expecting a few days ago.

        A second voice then said,

        "Better not. They need to be in good condition upon delivery." 

        "I don't see that this lot's the trouble," the first voice growled. "The big one might be alright, but the other two are rubbish. Especially the female one. Champion, my eye! She won't last five minutes in the Shadow Arena." 

         Wait...Shadow Arena? Champion? That meant that these Grey Guards...they knew that the four of them had competed in the Games. And Mother Brightly...Mother Brightly had told them to take the secret exit, right where the Grey Guards had been waiting. 

        "It's not our business to say what's worth the trouble, Carn 2," Carn 8 answered. "It's the old girl who answers to the Master, not us. Mother Brightly supplies the goods. All we have to do is deliver them undamaged." 

       Just as Lief had thought. Mother Brightly had led them into this trap. And they were...they were going to be sent to some Shadow Arena to fight-and this operation was clearly masterminded by none other than the Shadow Lord. 

     All of Lief's life, he has assumed he was, on some level, working for the greater good of Deltora. But this..this benefited _no one_. This was a slave trade.

        Lief had grown up around many slaves, and had never been so horrified of the institution before as he was now. He'd been suspicious of it, sure-and it was a suspicion which had earned him many much punishments at Fallow and the Shadow Lord's hand.  But now-now he was more than suspicious. He was disgusted. 

       This was not, as Fallow had insisted, an institution for the greater good of the people. Whatever slaves these Grey Guards had captured before for this Shadow Arena were not doing anything useful for either the Shadowlands or Deltora. Instead, they were fighting in the same blood sport as they had in Rithmere, only with no pay, and no illusions of freedom. 

        The journey continued for hours, during which Lief did his best to digest this information, and failed. The more the journey continued, the darker and colder it got, and the more it rained, Lief felt less and less like alerting the Grey Guards to his true identity, to killing Endon, and to going home. Because if he killed Endon, then the Shadow Lord would be free to continue this unjust practice.  He would be free to do anything, and nobody would be able to oppose him. 

       At last the cart stopped, and the Grey Guards tossed the four of them out of the cart and onto the ground. Agonizing pain shot through Lief's head, and he tried and failed to supress a groan of pain. 

       "Be careful, you fool!" roared Carn 8. "How many times do you have to be told? Any broken bones Brightly didn't put in her report and we're in the Arena ourselves. Do you want to end your days fighting a Vraal?" 

         So. The slaves fought apparently fought to the death. 

     ***

       The Grey Guards had made a rough shelter by stretching oiled cloth between low tree branches. The four companions huddled together under the canopy, shuddering with cold. Kree, much to Lief's happiness, had followed them from Rithmere. But there was no help of escape; the Grey Guards had fixed their leg irons to a peg in the ground. 

         The others' gags were removed, and they were given bread and water. The Guards crawled under the cart, apparently planning to sleep under it. 

         "I cannot eat with these chains," Jasmine protested. 

         "Hold your tongue!" snapped one of the guards. "Or I'll throw you into the Shifting Sands, orders or no! We passed by them just an hour ago!" 

         "Is the Belt safe?" Barda asked Endon. 

         "Yes," Endon replied, "Did you hear-?" 

         "Yes, the Shifting Sands are not far. But that is of little use to us. Mother Brightly fooled us well." 

         Jasmine broke off a tiny piece of bread for Filli. 

         "Yes, turns out that secret way out was a trap." 

         "The whole Games is a trap," Lief muttered, disgusted with himself. "A trap of my father's devising. He lures people in with the promise of gold, a promise to help them help their family and friends, or get rich, or whatever they want with it. And Mother Brightly makes sure that the very best and strongest walk tamely into captivity, so they can die battling beasts and each other for people's amusement." 

       "And the gold they earn, and even the medal, is taken and used again!" Jasmine agreed. "It is monstrous!" 

       "It is vile, it is disgusting, it is foul, it is a cruel perversion of hopes and dreams," Lief agreed. 

       "Those are...not words I expected to hear from you," Jasmine said, looking at Lief with a stunned expression on her face. 

       "Yes...same here," Endon agreed. 

       "What, just because I love my father I have to _approve_ of this?" Lief snapped. "That I have to unconditionally support everything he does, even when it's a blatant contradiction to everything he's ever told me? When it does nothing but hurt the people of Deltora, as opposed to helping them like I was told?"

        Lief glared at the Grey Guards underneath the cart. 

        "This is a lie. This whole mission is a lie. I'm sorry, Endon. I can't try to kill you any more. I just...can't." 

        Endon let out a huge sigh of relief. 

        "Well, that's good. So...does that mean you're genuinely on board with us now? You're not just sticking with us to avoid your father's wrath?"

        Lief's eyes widened. If he did that, if he said yes, that meant he was betraying his father. Granted, his father was a horrible person who created creepy cults just to get a reliable food supplier, kidnapped innocent forest dwellers, allowed evil sorceresses to roam freely, possibly deceived a country's leaders for centuries for the sole purpose of invasion, and oh yes, had a minor slave trade for the explicit purpose of supplying fighters for a deadly arena. But...did that really justify betraying one's own kin? 

        "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "All I know is, I can't work for him anymore. I can't be the Bloodhound. I can't put more people in jail to support a regime that does this to people. But...even if we do part ways, good luck, Your Majesty." 

        "Thank you," Endon said, his eyes welling up with tears. "And good luck to you too, whatever you decide." 

       And so the four of them set to work on the fruitless business of escaping. Eventually, they gave up, and settled down to sleep. Just as they did, however, they heard the snapping of twigs behind them. 

        "Be still!" a voice breathed behind them. "Don't speak or move till I tell you. I already have your packs and weapons. I'm going to unlock your chains, and once that's done, follow me as quietly as you can!" 

      *** 

       "Thank you," Endon said, as he Lief, Barda, and Jasmine sat on their heels in a small cave alongside Doom. "I can't believe you still-" 

        Doom waved away Endon's thanks and said, 

       "Hush. We have little time. I am the leader of a group sworn to fight the Shadow Lord. We have been suspicious of the Games for some time. My purpose there was to see what was happening from the inside. Your presence upset my plans. I tried to scare-" 

       "It was you who locked us in our room!" Barda exclaimed. "It was you who attacked us!"

       "I was trying to stop you from competing," Doom said with a grimace. "To protect you." 

       "I knew it!" Endon declared triumphantly. "I knew you remembered me-that you still had fond memories of us together!" 

       "It wasn't that!" Doom snapped. "It's true, something about you did interest me when I saw you in Tom's shop. But ever since then, I've heard whispers about you-about two men, a wild girl, and a black bird. And it's said that wherever you go, part of the Shadow Lord's evil is undone." 

       Lief gulped. If word about his former marks was spreading, then it didn't matter whether or not Lief killed Endon or not. The Shadow Lord would become aware that Endon was not dead, and send someone else to do the deed. Someone who, unlike Lief, was ruthless enough to get the job done. 

       "You let us be captured," Jasmine snapped, still not trusting Doom. "You did nothing while you let that Mother Brightly tricked us." 

       "I had no choice," Doom said. "I had to find out how it worked. I intended to use Glock as the bait, but he was beaten, and Orwen  took the drugged drink meant for you, girl. And thus instead of losing to him, I had to pretend to lose you." 

       "You did lose to me," Jasmine remarked acidly.  "Unless I'm mistaken, you hit your head on the wall, and slid down it unconscious." 

       Doom shrugged. 

       "Sure, believe that if you want." 

      "Would you have rescued Glock if it had all worked out, old friend?" Endon asked.

       Doom shook his head. 

       "You ask too many questions. I do however, have to save him now, for he, Neridah, and Orwen will follow in your footsteps. Now, a group is waiting not far away. Among them is Dain, the boy who helped me at the Games. He will lead you into our mountain stronghold. You will be safe there." 

       Lief's eyes widened. _Dain_. His brother. In all this time, he'd completely forgotten that Dain was supposed to infiltrate the rebels. And apparently, he had succeeded in doing so. 

       The moment Dain laid eyes on him, and on Endon, no less, he would know what had transpired. And he would not hesitate to kill Endon, and definitely not hesitate to kill or at the very least report Lief.  

      Lief glanced anxiously at his travelling companions.

     "We are grateful," Barda said, "But we cannot accept your offer. We must continue our travels; we have an important mission which needs completing."

     "Whatever it is, you must abandon it," Doom insisted. "I could not risk trying to kill the Guards." 

     "And you don't have to," Jasmine snapped. "We can take care of ourselves." 

    "The moment they wake and find you gone, they will hunt you down," Doom pointed out. 

     "Then it is all the better that we do not lead them to you, old friend," Endon said. 

     They all put on their weapons and crawled out of the cave. 

     "Go then," Doom declared coldly from behind them. "But say nothing to anyone of what I told you this night, or you will wish you had gone to the Shadowlands." 

     And with that, he was gone.

      "Who does he think he is, threatening us?" Jasmine spat.

     "I imagine my old friend does not trust people as easily as he used to," Endon explained. "What with all that's happened to him. It is sad, though-he would have been a valuable ally." 

     "Doom would not have let us keep our secret," Barda pointed out. "And as we just found out, there are spies everywhere. Even his band might not be safe." 

     Lief laughed sharply.

     Oh, it was definitely _not_ safe. Not with _Dain_ skulking about, getting all chummy with the leader of the rebels.

      Thus the four of them set off to find the next gem, with Kree serving as their guide, because, having followed them from Rithmere, he was the only one who knew where they were. Eventually, they found a wooden fence, beyond which lay a stretch of stony land ending in low gray hills.

      "If we walk along the fence, we'll leave no tracks," Jasmine pointed out, and thus the four of the walked along the fence until they got to a crossroads. The fence continued around the corner, and then further on until it disappeared into the hills. But right beside the corner post was a weathered gray stone, one which read: 

         Shifting Sands! Danger!

         Death swarms within its rocky wall, 

         Where all are one, one rules all

        Below the dead, the living strive

         With mindless will to survive. 

        "Well, that's ominous," Endon said. 

        Jasmine shrugged. 

        "We've faced worse than foreboding poetry." 

         "Yes, but back then we only had _Lief_ tailing us," Barda said dryly, "And even then he was more interested in picking in Endon's brain than killing us. Now we have a whole crew of bloodthirsty Grey Guards on our tail."

         "Since it mentions a rocky wall, I should think the Sands are beyond those hills. But we'll need to cross the plain to reach them. And there'll be no way to hide out there." 

         Endon shrugged. 

         "I think we've lost our pursuers, don't you?" he said as he climbed down onto the ground. 

         "I would not be so optimistic if I were you, Your Majesty," Barda muttered, as he followed Endon. "Keep in mind, we did just barely escape from a one-way-trip to the Shadowlands and certain death."

      Lief and Jasmine quickly joined Endon and Barda, and thus began a long rush towards the hills, one in which everyone frequently looked behind them to ensure there were no Grey Guards.

        When the sun rose and they at last reached the hills, it was then that they realized that the hills were in fact several huge boulders heaped on top of each other, making a huge, natural wall-like the rocky wall of the poem. They clambered over the rock piles and found themselves in a world of nothing but endless sand. 

         Everywhere as far as the eye could see, there were high dunes, and not a living thing in sight, but there was a low droning that seemed to suggest the entire place was alive. 

         And it was then Lief realized that the vision he had seen in the opal had come to pass. He might very well die here, surrounded by this emptiness. 

          "We'll never find it in all this sand!" Jasmine grumbled, jolting Lief out of his reverie. 

         "The Belt will grow warm when the gem is near," Barda told her. "How about this-we divide into sections and search it square by square?" 

           "No," Endon said, holding a hand up. "This gem is like the others-it too has a Guardian. And that Guardian is already aware of us." 

           "So, another snake monster, then?" Lief chuckled, desperate to hide his fear. "This'll be a piece of cake, then." 

           Endon, rather than reply, simply closed his eyes and began climbing the first dune. Thoroughly confused by this behavior, Jasmine, Barda, and Lief followed him, until eventually, they were surrounded by dunes and had long lost sight of the rock wall. Fortunately, their tracks were plain as day, so there was no danger of getting lost. 

            Then, all of a sudden, Jasmine, who was now leading them, held up her hand and motioned for everyone to stop, which they did. And then Lief heard the last voice he wanted to hear at that moment. 

          "Carn 2!" screamed Carn 8. "Never mind the flies! Keep moving!" 

          Lief realized in horror that the very same tracks which would have saved them had lead the Grey Guards straight to them. And there was absolutely nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.

          And it was then that Lief realized: there was no reason for him to run. True, he had basically vowed to betray his father just a few hours ago, their master, but there was no way these Grey Guards could know that. And, as the Bloodhound, he still outranked them by a mile. So why not use that to his advantage? 

         "Hide behind the dune," Lief whispered to his companions, "I'll stall them." 

         Barda, Jasmine, and Endon all obediently hid behind the dune, while Lief climbed over it and stood face to face with the Grey Guards. 

         "Ah, and here's one of the little escapees now," Carn 2 cried, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "All is not lost." 

         Lief simply looked them imperiously, the way he used to look at his own pod whenever they screwed up, and untied his mask. 

         "I should think not," he said loftily. "Do you know who I am, Carns 2 and 8? Do you have any idea what you're dealing with?" 

         "Uh...an escaped slave?" Carn 8 guessed. 

         "I am no slave," Lief scoffed. "I am the Bloodhound, in case you fools couldn't tell. The scourge of Del, specially created by our Master himself." 

        "The...Bloodhound? As in, our Master's son? As in...his flesh and blood?" Carn 8 gasped. 

        "That's right." 

       Carn 8 sank to his knees in the ground. 

       "Please...forgive us, sir. We had no idea."

        Despite himself, Lief could not help but smile at the sight. 

         Carn 2 was not so easily convinced, however. 

       "If you're really the Bloodhound, then what are you doing so far away from Del?" 

       "It does not pay to question our master's will," Lief snapped, channeling every bit of authority he had in him. and "But if you must know, worm, I am here on special orders from our Master." 

       "Orders to do what? Compete in tournaments for cash?" 

        Before Lief could explain in an appropriately haughty manner, the dune erupted from underneath him, tossing him back onto the ground. A huge, hideous creature emerged from the sand and seized the Grey Guards. It was a bizarre, eight-legged thing, with a tiny head that seemed to be covered in mirrored eyes. Dozens of leathery pouch-like things hung from its body.

        The Grey Guards, fortunately, were too fixated on it to notice Barda, Jasmine, and  Endon, or Lief hastily re-tying his mask.And in one, large gulp from the creature, they soon found themselves in no position to do anything about it. The creature, having successfully killed its prey, quickly proceeded to undress the deceased Grey Guards with its pincers, while also removing everything else-clubs, metal canisters, slings, waterskins, bags of money, and Jasmine's medallion. Then the beast sat down and began to eat, tearing away at the Guards as if they were a delicious roast. As it ate, the pouches hanging from its body began to fill, until they resembled enormous grapes on a vine. Once that happened, the beast then ambled away over the next dune and disappeared. 

         Once they were sure it would not return, Jasmine immediately went over to the pile of rags and began scavenging. She created a small pile of things that could be useful: the Guards' clubs, their waterskins, Jasmine's medallion, and the money bags. Once finished, she looked up and said, quite startled: 

        "The money! It's gone!"

        "How is that possible?" Endon exclaimed, striding over and beginning to search.

        Just then, a smooth patch of sand caught Lief's eye, and on that patch he saw several strange circular marks, all of which looked about the same shape and size as...gold coins. 

        "Look!" he cried, pointing to the marks. 

         His companions immediately went towards him and stared at the marks. 

         "Those don't look like any of tracks I've seen before," Jasmine mused. "What could have made them?" 

          Just then, Endon began kicking at the marks in the sand, destroying them, and scattering the sand everywhere. 

         "Endon! What's gotten into you?" Lief cried.

          But Endon did not hear him. Soon there was a soft shifting sound, and the earth began to move. Huge columns of sand began to thrust themselves upward all around them, and the four tumbled together, flung about like helpless rag dolls. Kree squawked and flew above them, helpless to save them. The sand roared and quaked beneath them, and Lief felt himself surrounded by a terrible, rage-filled presence. 

         Then the storm stopped, and the ground quieted. Everyone flopped onto the ground and gasped for breath. Kree flew to Jasmine's side, unharmed but covered in red dust. 

        "An earthquake," Barda murmured. "So that's why it's called the Shifting Sands." 

        "That was not an ordinary earthquake," Lief snapped. "What were you thinking, Endon?" 

        "I...I don't know," Endon replied, looking all around him and staring at his surroundings. And that was when Lief realized: everything had changed. All the tracks had been swept away, and dunes had collapsed and formed in different places. There were valleys where previously there were hills. 

        It was a wholly new desert, save for the low droning. 

        "Oh, no," Jasmine groaned, "Not you too, Lief! Speak to me!" 

       But she sounded very far away, despite being close by. Which way was east? Which was west? Where had they come from? Lief had no idea; he only knew that the vision had come to pass, and he was at peace. 

       Lief's eyes fell upon a mark in the sand, a mark which looked suspiciously like his bow. And it was then that Lief understood. 

      "Lief! What's going on?" Jasmine cried, taking Lief by the shoulders and shaking him. "Have you lost your wits?" 

      "No, but I have lost my bow," he told her, pointing to the drawing in the sand. "I think whatever caused the storm took it away as tribute." 

      "What?" Endon cried, staring at the drawing. "But...that was one of my best pieces!" 

      Lief smiled. 

      "It doesn't matter. It's not like I need it to hunt you with anymore." 

      "Those circles in the sand! They were pictures of the coins!" Barda gritted his teeth. "What kind of creature is this?" 

      "A thieving one," Endon replied. "And one who's not afraid to admit it." 

      "But what creature would have any use for bows or gold out here?" Jasmine asked. "It's not like they have the mind to-"

      " _Mindless will_ ," Lief gasped, remembering the strange poem. "Maybe it doesn't have the mind to use them. Maybe it just collects treasures. I think I've find this Guardian of yours, Endon."

       Endon pressed his hand to the topaz and concentrated for a minute. Then he stood up and said, 

       "Yes...yes I think we have. Come-we must go to the Center. That's where it is. We have no time to waste."

        "The...Center? What do you mean?" 

        But Endon allowed no time for explanations.  And thus they followed Endon's lead onward into the night, until at last they reached a lone peak rising high from a flattened circle, ringed by rounded dunes. The Center. 

         Exhausted, they climbed the peak, the droning noise growing louder as they did, until they reached the top, and looked into the peak's hollow core. A whirlpool of sand soared beneath them, as though driven by wind. Except...there was no wind, and the droning noise...the droning noise was in fact the sound of countless millions of bees humming. 

        "What is this?" Barda asked, reaching for his sword. 

       "The poem," Endon gasped. "We misread the poem. It wasn't _survive_ -it was _serve the Hive_. The Sand itself is the Guardian." 

       "How is that possible?" Barda exclaimed. " We've walked on it, seen countless creatures-" 

       "Who are all just using the Sand as a host, like fleas on a dog. The dunes are a covering, covering the dead, while the living-they work below, collecting the treasures that fall. And the gem...the gem, once it fell, would be drawn to the center." 

       "So the gem is down there," Jasmine murmured. "And we're going to have to go down there and get it." 

       "A fool's endeavor," Lief murmured. "Those bees would sooner kill us than let us take the gem." 

       "Maybe not," Barda said. "I remember...I had a beekeeper friend once...he used smoke to calm bees so he could get their honey. I wonder...would the same principle work here?" 

      "It's worth a try," Endon said. "Jasmine, you make some smoke, and I'll go down and retrieve the gem!" 

      "No!" Barda said. "If you die, the gem is useless. I'll go." 

      "No," Lief countered. "I'll go. I was the one the opal predicted would die, anyway." 

      _And it would be a fitting end_ , thought Lief. In all of the books he'd read in the library when Fallow wasn't looking, bad characters who turned good always ended up dying to solidify their goodness. 

      Thus Lief ended up dangling from a rope into the core, cocooned in his cloak, with nothing but a dampened torch for a weapon. But the torch, and its smoke, was the only thing Lief needed, and Barda, Jasmine, and Endon held on tightly to the rope. 

       The Hive rose to meet him, spinning savagely around him in a rough, hot whirlwind. Lief shut his eyes tightly and held on to the torch, praying to whatever higher power existed that the bees would not kill him. 

       Then the smoke began to disperse amongst the bees, and the whirlwind quieted. The bees retreated into the darkness, revealing a glistening pyramid at the core's center. A glistening pyramid of strange cells filled with gold, glass, gems, and bones. 

       Lief had never seen anything more beautiful or more horrifying. It was a pyramid built on the backs of the deceased, the prey of the Hive, using stolen riches to make itself seem glorious. And the cells were no doubt the Hive's young, which would be trained to protect and expand upon this wondrous monstrosity, never being taught otherwise. 

       In other words, it was his father's empire, in visual form.

       Lief wanted to attack it, to destroy the horrible thing. But no-that would not help. That would only cause his death, and save no one. No, he must find the gem.

       But which among the many beautiful stones was the One? Lief didn't know. He had never been taught what gems specifically made up the Belt; he only knew that it was the one thing that could oust his father. 

       Lief scanned the pyramid desperately, until, at last, below some bones and pots, there it was. A dark blue stone, with pinpoints of light piercing its surface, making it look like the night sky. That was it. That was the gem. 

       Lief didn't know how he knew it was the gem-something in him just knew. Hurriedly, he grabbed towards the gem-

      And that was when he realized: the torch was dying. The Hive would assuredly attack him if he took the stone. His only hope was to replace it with something similar.

      Lief fumbled around, until at last he came upon Jasmine's medallion in his pocket. Which happened to be just the right size. 

      The Hive began to wake up, to drone towards him with suspicion as the smoke began to clear. Lief hurriedly reached for the gem, with Jasmine's medallion in his other hand. He eased the gem out, and tucked the medallion into place. 

       Lief tugged at the rope twice, the agreed upon get-out signal, just as the Hive began to wake and swirl towards him. Lief then found himself being pulled up, further and further, as the Hive swirled to meet him. But at long last, he managed to crawl back up into the fresh air, and wordlessly show them the gem. 

       "You got it," Endon gasped. "The lapis lazuli." 

       Endon took the gem and placed it into the Belt. 

      "Well, what now?" Lief asked, exhausted. 

      "Do not worry," Endon assured him. "The lapis lazuli is a talisman. We will be safe." 

      And as they climbed down the peak, walked through the sands, and back onto solid land, they were. But just as they made camp, Lief suddenly felt a burning wave of nausea up his throat, and he found himself throwing up another pile of black goo.

       "Lief!" Endon cried, rushing to steady him. "Are you alright?" 

      "I'm fine," Lief replied, standing back up and sitting down around the campfire Jasmine made. "I just...forgot that the Belt weakens me, is all." 

       "What?" Barda cried. "But...I don't understand." 

       And so Lief carefully explained his theory about the Belt, and how, since he was a creature of the Shadow Lord, touching it would most definitely lead to his death. 

       "But not right now," he assured them. "Worst case scenario, I'll probably just lose another one of the abilities granted by my father's experiments. Still, I should probably never touch one of the Belt's gems again. Hell, we should probably just go our separate ways and-goodness, it's unusually dark out."

       "It's nighttime," Jasmine remarked. "Of course it's dark out." 

       "Not for me it isn't," Lief countered, staring around, surprised at the lack of light. Normally, at nighttime it was merely dim for him, not this strange blackness that shaded or hid everything. "At least, it shouldn't be. Not since the experiment done when I was fourteen-it's happened again! That lapis lazuli-it took away my night vision!" 

        "So it has," Endon replied, looking down ashamed at the ground. "How..how many more powers do you have for the Belt to take away before you-?" 

         "Enough, I think," Lief told him. "At least enough to last me a while. And if I never touch the Belt again, I'll probably be okay. To be safe though, we should probably go our seperate ways, so that we-" 

         "So that the Belt can't kill you?" Barda snorted. "As if there aren't numerous other things that could? Like the Grey Guards- you think they'll  just leave you be?" 

         Jasmine shrugged. 

         "I don't know. Those Grey Guards looked pretty scared of him when Lief told them who he was." 

         "Yes, one of them was," Barda retorted. "The other didn't exactly buy it. And the Grey Guards are hardly the only danger. There's still his father to contend with-and on that front Lief has two options. Since he no longer wishes to kill Endon for real, he can either go back home or lie about it-and see how long that will get him before the truth is discovered or the Shadow Lord kills him for refusing to work for him." 

        "You think I'm stupid enough to go back to Del and not be the Bloodhound?" Lief pointed out. 

        "Leading to option two: he can simply wander Deltora and try to make his own way-until eventually the Shadow Lord learns that Lief did not kill Endon, and tries to kill him." 

        "And I am not about to let him do either," Endon declared. 

        Lief raised an eyebrow. 

        "I may not want to kill you, but I can incapacitate you long enough to get away," he pointed out. 

        "Well, if that's the case, you'll also have to incapacitate me," Barda added, "Because there is no way I am going to let you end up in that vile creature's hands ever again." 

         Lief turned to Jasmine. 

        "Well-aren't you going to talk some sense into them? Point out that I'm an evil assassin?" he pleaded. 

         Jasmine shrugged. 

         "Oh, come on. You're a big softie, and you haven't tried to kill Endon in _ages_. At this point I _have_ to trust you. And also, agree with Barda. " 

 

        Well, wasn't this the worst? Lief almost wished he had died in the Shifting Sands. Because now not only was he being pitied by his marks, but now they were obsessed with protecting him from the Shadow Lord for some unfathomable reason. 

        Except...they weren't really his _marks_ anymore, were they? Lief had no intention of killing Endon, or Barda, and he certainly had no intention of killing Jasmine. Not only that, but it couldn't be clearer that the Shadow Lord was _not_ doing this to benefit Deltora. That everything Lief had been told was a lie, and that the Shadow Lord had only invaded for his own personal gain. And that therefore, killing Endon would be the worst thing he could do in this situation. 

        And not only that, he had actively helped them get gems- _twice_! And even _Jasmine_ liked him now! Jasmine! Intelligent, strong, suspicious _Jasmine_! 

        No, their dynamics had shifted. It was no longer a question of hunter and hunted. Now it was something entirely new...perhaps it was this thing that humans called... _friendship_? 

        Yes. These three travelers, somehow, were his _friends_. How on earth had that happened? 

        Lief didn't know, but he liked it. And somehow, that made having no choice but to help restore the Belt...not so bad, actually. 

         

       

     

      


	9. The Dreaming Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lief and company arrive at the Dreaming Spring and meet the Kin. Dain cons his way into Sharn's good graces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -So yeah, Dain's backstory is a little different here than it was in canon.  
> -I decided to keep Monty the stuffed toy in the narrative; yes, it kind of ruins the abuse backstory to give him a loving nanny, but while the innate goodness of humanity IS a theme, Lief still needs someone to model it, so I'm sorry, his backstory isn't a perfect ball of edgy.

        Despite the lovely day, Lief could not help be miserable. The companions' supplies of water were almost empty, and nowhere in the flat brown countryside had there been so much as a stream to refill their water supplies with. So, ever since the Shifting Sands, they'd kept themselves to only a few mouthfuls of water a day. 

       And unlike Lief's situation with hunger, the Shadow Lord had done nothing to augment Lief's need for water. No, he needed as much water as humans did, something which hadn't apparently bothered the Shadow Lord. But it certainly bothered Lief, especially now that he and the others might very well die of thirst. 

        Not to mention, it had finally dawned on him that officially breaking with the Shadow Lord meant Lief would never see Del again-at best. And Endon's next target, Dread Mountain, was so close to the Shadowlands -Lief's true homeland, which he had never seen and did not remember. A place where, ironically, he had narrowly missed being shipped to as a _slave_. 

      Had it only really been a few months since Lief had set out to assassinate Endon? It felt like a century ago. The world had been different back then-Lief's world had been different back then. Everything had been so simple: his father was perfectly in the right, the only reason for the people's misery was their own rebelliousness, and any qualms Lief had about his father's methods were just signs Lief was defective. 

       But now...now Lief, the defective Ol, was in the _right_. And his father-the Shadow Lord-was not just wrong, he was wrong on the most vile and evil of levels. And Lief had _helped_ him be wrong. He...he...it sickened Lief to _think_ about it. 

        Well, at least he could atone for that by helping Endon with his fool's quest. But how long could he do that for? Somehow, so far, Endon's band of misfits had avoided the Shadow Lord's attention, but that mysterious friend of Endon's had said people had heard of them. And if the Resistance knew, the Shadow Lord might very well know too.

 

       And as a matter of fact, the Shadow Lord _did_ know. He knew every treasonous little thought in that boy's head. It galled him, but Fallow had been right. He should have had Lief killed _ages_ ago. 

       "What do you think of this, midwife?" he asked Katie through the crystal. 

       "I have no opinion, my lord," she said flatly. And indeed, she didn't. The human governor idea was proving to be a bust. Yes, she obeyed his orders perfectly, and had turned Del into a wonderfully run factory of terror, but that was all she did. With the worm inside her brain, she was useless for bouncing ideas off of. Not to mention, she was deaf half the time, and prone to headaches and fits of insanity. It was not the same as having a proper subordinate. 

       So, oddly enough, he'd ended up giving that part of Fallow's job to _Dain_ , ironically. Through use of their mind link, he'd been consulting Dain while the creature charmed the Resistance leaders and "helped" them. And Dain was all too happy to play consultant. He crowed about it constantly in his internal monologue.

      _Do you want me to kill him, master?_   Dain asked the Shadow Lord through the mind link. _I could kill him for you, if that little band of his ever takes up Doom on his offer_. 

      _No!!!_   The Shadow Lord replied, put off by Dain's eagerness. _I still might have a use for him someday. Never forget; I have plans within plans._

 _I do, however,_ the Shadow Lord added, _want you to keep playing up the long-lost royalty scam. Especially in front of Doom and Sharn._

 _Uh...one problem, master. Sharn doesn't trust me enough to meet me yet,_ Dain pointed out.  _I believe she has caught on to all the hints I've been dropping. Not to mention, when I do get into her presence...should I claim to be Endon's bastard, or am I supposed to say I'm her long-lost son?_

 _The latter, if you can,_ the Shadow Lord told him, a wicked smile spreading across his face. _It tugs at the heartstrings more._

 _But that's absurd!_ Dain scoffed.  _How is the brat-sorry,_ me _-supposed to have been saved from Fallow? Did he suddenly have a change of heart after ordering the guards to drag Sharn away?  Did some magical midwife snatch me away from him and make a run into the city?_

 _YOU....HAVE...THE...GALL...TO_ MOCK _ME, CREATURE?!!_ the Shadow Lord thundered through the mind link.

        _No_...Dain whined, horrified. _No, master, of course not..._

        _Keep in mind that I have chosen to show mercy for your crimes_ , the Shadow Lord hissed. _Mercy I could easily revoke with a wave of my hand..._

_I...I'm sorry..._

_Good. Then you will obey my orders and stick to that story, do you hear?_

***

 _"_ Kree says there's water ahead," Jasmine said. "A small pool, to be precise, in a grove of trees not far from the road." 

     Water! At last! A small miracle, in this horrible, dry wasteland. 

      The companions rushed after Kree as he led them off the road, following him until they found themselves in a small grove of the whitest, most curious-looking trees Lief had ever seen. And in the center of it all, there was a small pool filled with clear water surrounded by white stones. Excited and propelled by thirst, the four companions descended upon the pool and gulped up as much water as they could.

     It was not until they had all satisfied their thirst that Lief saw that one of the white stones had a dull bronze plate which said: 

      _Dreaming Spring_

_Drink, Gentle Stranger, and Welcome._

_All of Evil Will Beware._

      "Oh, no," Lief gasped. "Oh, no. That is not good." 

      "What? What is it?" Barda asked, turning away from the pool. 

      Lief directed his companions to the sign and explained, 

      "I...I _drank_ from this. And I...I'm a _creature of the Shadow Lord_." 

      Jasmine shrugged. 

      "So? What's the problem?" 

      "The...the Shadow Lord...my father...is evil," Lief said. "And...since I am his creation, it follows that...I too must be evil. Therefore...this spring will most likely kill me."

      "Well, you aren't ill now, are you?" Endon asked. 

      "N-no," Lief stammered. Actually, he felt fine. Not sick at all. 

      "Well, then," Endon said with a chuckle. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. After all, it says _all of evil_ will _beware_ , not _all creatures born of wicked parents beware_. And since you abandoned any and all evil will several days ago..." 

      _But the Belt is still trying to kill me,_ Lief thought to himself. _How can it do that if I'm not evil?_  

      With that argument, and Lief failing to get sick, the companions filled their water skins and ate as the moon rose into the sky. To sleep, they moved into the cover of the trees. Barda offered to take the first watch, and the rest went to sleep. 

      As Lief lay down, however, he could not help but observe that Kree chose to sleep on the ground, as opposed to the trees. 

      "Why is Kree sleeping on the ground?" Lief asked. "He's a bird-shouldn't he be sleeping on a tree branch?" 

       "The trees are unnatural here," Jasmine said as she pulled her blanket around her. "They're silent, and they look exactly alike." 

       Indeed, they did: they all had the same straight trunk, the same three branches pointing to the sky, the same clusters of pale leaves.

       Lief shuddered.

      "They do look like one of my father's experiments gone wrong," he admitted. 

      "Stop worrying and go to bed," Jasmine told him. 

       Lief huddled his blanket around him, and tried to obey. But the silence kept him awake. There was no wind, no insects chirping, nothing. No sound at all except for the soft breathing of Jasmine and Endon.

      A few days ago, Endon had given him a little blue book titled _The Belt of Deltora_. Endon claimed that the source of all his knowledge came from it, and insisted that Lief study it if he wanted to continue helping Endon.

       "You're on our side now, so there's no reason you shouldn't know the full story," Endon had said. "And we know your father was probably very selective with the truth, if he told you any of it at all." 

       At the time, Lief had thought this reasoning silly. He didn't need to know everything about Deltora to know that fighting with the Shadow Lord was wrong. 

       But now, unable to sleep, and with little else to do, Lief took out the little blue book and began reading. 

        The book began with a boring little blurb about how Deltora used to be divided into seven warring tribes who each had a gem for a talisman. None of it was very interesting, and Lief half began to wonder why Endon cared so much for this book until one passage in particular caught his eye. 

        _There came a time when the Enemy from the Shadowlands cast greedy eyes on Deltora,_ the passage read _. The tribes were divided, and singly none of them could repel the invader, who began to triumph._

The Shadow Lord...had tried to conquer Deltora... _before_ the rise of its monarchy? But...how? Why? Lief had always known his father was ancient, and he knew now that his plan to conquer Deltora had been at least centuries in the making, but this...this took it to a whole new level. Just how old _was_ the Shadow Lord? 

      _A hero called Adin rose from the ranks of the people,_ the book went on. _He was an ordinary man, a blacksmith who made swords and armor and shoes for horses. But he had been blessed with strength, courage, and cleverness._

Lief's eyes widened. Adin was....a _blacksmith_?!! But...that couldn't be! The Shadow Lord...the Shadow Lord had told him that Adin was a bored, petty nobleman who'd united the tribes through trickery and sorcery. In fact, that was how he'd justified using Prandine to manipulate Endon in the first place. 

        "It's hardly any different than what Adin did all those thousand of years ago," the Shadow Lord had said. " He tricked all seven of the tribal leaders into giving up their talismans and then, he used them all to fashion a hideous Belt to enslave everyone to his will. And all because he was _bored_. Surely, my project, manipulating a foolish old king is hardly any worse than _that_?" 

       The book went on to describe the Belt coming to Adin in a dream, and Adin then realizing this dream was an omen of things to come. How Adin forged the Belt and then slowly convinced the tribal leaders to give up their gems so he could add them to the Belt. And how, as each gem was added, that tribe grew stronger. 

        _And when at last the belt was complete_ , the book said,  _Adin fastened it around his waist, and it flashed like the sun. Then all the tribes united behind him to form a great army, and together they drove the Enemy from their land. And so Adin became the first king of the united tribes of Deltora, and he ruled the land long and wisely. But he never forgot that he was a man of the people, and that their trust in him was the source of his power. Neither did he forget that the Enemy, though defeated, was not destroyed. He knew that the Enemy is clever and sly, and that to its anger and envy a thousand years is like the blink of an eye. So he wore the belt always, and never let it out of his sight ..._

Lief shut the book in horror. The Shadow Lord was not just a recent problem. By helping the Shadow Lord, Lief had only been contributing to a problem Deltora had had for a thousand years. 

And with that knowledge, Lief eventually fell asleep.And thus he was not awake to see Barda fall asleep on his watch. Or to hear the denizens of the grove move to the Dreaming Spring.

        ***

      That night Lief dreamed a frightfully vivid, horrifically real dream. 

      In the dream, Dain sat in an office of sorts, facing a middle-aged woman with moon-pale skin and dark hair tied up in a bun. Her hands were folded on the desk in front of her, and she examined Dain with a skeptical look.

      "So... _Dain_ , you claim you're _Endon's_ son," the woman began, frowning as she did. "I hope you understand why I might find this claim... _hard to believe_?"

      Dain nodded. 

      "Yes, Your Highness. Your child with Endon was cruelly taken from you when he was less than a year old and killed by Fallow." 

      _Your Highness? No. No. She can't be. That's...that's Sharn, then,_ Lief realized. _Endon's ex-wife._

Sharn pursed her lips together.

      "That's right," she said. "My son...my _only_ son...was killed by Fallow. The same man who ordered I be made barren, and thus unable to give Endon _any more_ children."

      _Damn_ , Lief thought. He'd heard the story before-from Fallow, no less-but to think of it now, and hear it from the perspective of Sharn herself-how could Lief ever have thought the Shadow Lord was doing _good_ by Deltora? 

      Sharn examined Dain carefully. 

      "It could, I suppose, be possible for Endon to have slept with and impregnated _another_ woman," Sharn continued. "That is, except for the fact that while my former husband and I were still together, he adamantly _refused_ to do so. Not even for the good of Deltora."

      Sharn raised an eyebrow. 

     "So tell me then, Dain, _who_ is this woman that was _so_ special to Endon that he went back on his word for her? A word I _begged_ him to break so often for the sake of our country, but which he never did? Where is the gold locket, the brooch, the love letter to her that is so obviously _not_ in my former husband's handwriting?" 

    Huh...so Dain was _not_ the first person to claim he was the heir! Sharn had been conned before, apparently, and was loathe to be conned again.

      _Good on you, Sharn_ , Lief thought. It was certainly _miles_ beyond Endon, whom Lief had no doubt would happily have accepted Dain the moment he showed up. He'd accepted _Lief_ , after all, despite _knowing_ he'd been an assassin the whole time. 

      Perhaps, if Sharn exposed Dain for the liar he was, the rebel fortress would finally be safe for Endon-

      Dain cleared his throat. 

     "I....I'm afraid I don't have any of those things, Your Highness. I don't have any presents from any mistresses. Because...there were no mistresses. As far as I know, there was only...you." 

     Huh? Since when had _that_ been the agreed-upon story?

     "Only...me?! What do you mean by that?" Sharn snapped. 

     Dain's eyes widened, blinking back  tears Lief knew were fake. Dain had always had a gift for creating fake tears, one which had earned him much favor with the Shadow Lord. 

     "I mean, Your Highness," Dain explained, his lower lip quivering with a nervousness which was as fake as his tears."That I'm your son. The one Fallow took away from you." 

      Sharn's eyes widened. Then, she laughed mirthlessly. 

      "I'll admit," she said. "No one's ever tried _that_ one before. If only because it can't possibly be true!" 

       Sharn looked Dain over. 

      "Although...you _do_ look _excessively_ Toran. And you already washed your hair before seeing me, so I know that dark hair is natural."

      _Well, as natural as it can be when you're a shape-shifting Ol_ , Lief thought. 

      "So tell me..." Sharn asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in her chair. "Why did Fallow choose to spare you yet still give the order to sterilize me?" 

     "He...he _didn't_ ," Dain stammered, and Lief could see he was clearly making this up on the fly. "The Shadow Lord...the Shadow Lord _ordered_ him to. Claimed...claimed he had some sort of plan for me." 

     " _What_ plan?" 

     "I...I... don't know. But apparently...it required keeping me locked up in the old palace all my life. Tha-that's where Fallow raised me, on the Shadow Lord's orders." 

    "And...did they tell you who you were?"

    "Uh...no," Dain replied. "No, they _didn't_. I wouldn't have stayed if they did. They...they told me...I was....that I was the _Shadow Lord_ 's son."

      Sharn's eyebrows shot up. 

     "The...the Shadow Lord's son?" she exclaimed, appearing genuinely curious for the first time, as opposed to merely skeptical. " But...but...how-can he even _have_ children?" 

      Dain shook his head. 

      "I don't know. That's just what they told me. Fallow and the Shadow Lord. Probably...probably to make me more loyal to them. So that...so that I would do whatever they said without question." 

     Dain buried his face in his hands. 

      "Oh, Mother, they forced me to do such _terrible_ things," Dain cried, heaving false sobs. 

      Sharn's features softened into a look of motherly concern, a look Dain most certainly did not deserve. 

     "What did they make you do, child? Tell me: it's all right." 

     Dain looked up and stammered, 

    "They...they forced me to kill people...ordinary people...just for defying the Shadow Lord. And when I refused..." 

     Dain threw his head back down and blubbered, fake tears streaming down his eyes. 

     "Oh, it...it's too painful..." 

     Sharn stood up, walked to the other side of the desk, and put a hand on Dain's shoulder. 

     "There, there, child," she reassured him, "It's alright. No one is going to hurt you." 

     "I'm just glad I saw Fallow's diary when I did," Dain sniffled. "Otherwise I might have...I might have kept following their orders for the rest of my life! If I was lucky." 

     "Oh," Sharn murmured, putting an arm around Dain's shoulders. "You poor thing. Don't worry; nobody will ever force you to do anything so horrible ever again!" 

     Lief had had enough. 

     "You bastard!" he screamed. "Are you honestly capable of lying to her like this? How can you live with yourself?" 

     But neither Sharn nor Dain appeared to hear him. Instead, Sharn simply said to Dain:

     "Come, let me escort you to your room." 

     And thus Lief was forced to follow Dain and Sharn  through the rebel headquarters until they at last got to Dain's room, where, after Dain and Sharn said their good nights to each other, Dain flopped down onto his bed and, wide-eyed, murmured, 

     "Holy. Shit. No. Way." 

    "Damn right," Lief agreed, "You lying sack of shit. That sob story should never have worked-"

    Right before he could tell Dain off further, however, Lief woke up. 

    ***

    The sky was pale when Lief arose, and the stars were almost gone. He had slept the entire night. 

     But...but how? And why? Surely Jasmine or Endon would have woken him up for his watch, correct?  Lief glanced over to his companions, whom, he observed with a start, were all sound asleep. Hmm! So they were just as bad as he was! Ah well! At least they were all safe. 

      Suddenly overcome by thirst, Lief got up and walked back towards the spring through the trees. He was almost there when all of a sudden, he heard a splashing sound. Someone was drinking from the spring. 

       Reaching for his sword, Lief slowly crept out to investigate.

      A creature the size of a big dog was drinking out of the spring, although it was far rounder than any dog. Its skin-for it did not seem to have fur-was a rich chestnut brown, and its hind legs were short and stubbly, while its front paws were slender. Strangest of all was the skin, which seemed to be oddly folded and rippled. 

      Then, all of a sudden, the creature turned, and Lief found himself face to face with wide, startled brown eyes, a pink, open mouth, and front paws clasped in fear. And the moment he saw it, the strangest feeling of peace and pleasure coursed through him, alongside the instinctive knowledge that the creature was harmless, and thoroughly frightened. 

     "Aww," Lief cooed, "Don't worry. It's alright. I'm not here to hurt you."

     Curiosity began to replace fear in the creature's eyes. 

     "What's your name?" the creature squeaked. 

    Lief stepped back in shock. The creature could...speak? 

    "Lief," Lief replied. "My name is Lief. And you?" 

   "Prin, daughter of the Kin," the creature told him. She then began waddling towards Lief, smiling as she did.

    The sight of which caused a flood of memories to come sailing back in. Kin! The flying creatures every child in Del knew of! Lief himself had had a stuffed Kin, Monty, back when he was very little.  It had been made for him by his nurse, Lyra. Technically, given that Lief was an Ol, he shouldn't have needed her.  But apparently, on the day he was made, he'd been rather...helpless, like a human baby. A state of helplessness which could be only be remedied by using the services of someone used to taking care of human babies, and that was where Lyra came in. 

    Lyra was supposed to have left the minute Lief could walk and talk on his own, but she hadn't. Instead she had stayed, namely because Fallow realized that the longer she stayed, the longer he could go without having to do any work towards training Lief. 

    And thus, up until Lief was six, when the Shadow Lord finally learned of how Fallow shirked his duties-he had spent his days tucked away in a nursery, with Lyra to look after him, and Monty, his treasured companion, to play with. And it had been absolutely wonderful; in the daytime, she played games with him or sometimes simply watched him play by himself, and the evenings she would tuck him into bed and read him fairy stories. Back then, life had been simple, and he'd only wanted one thing: for Monty to come to life. 

    And here was that childish wish come true-sort of. Prin was a girl where Monty had distinctly been male, but still-an actual, live Kin! Lief had thought they only existed in books. 

     "Will you play with me, Lief?" Prin asked. "Will you play hide-and-seek with me?" 

     It was that question which made Lief realize Prin must be quite young. Which wasn't surprising, considering that standing upright she only reached his shoulder. Fully grown Kin, Lief had been told, were so large people often mistook them for dragons. 

    "W-where's your family?" Lief asked, suddenly deeply concerned for Prin. 

    "Still dreaming," Prin scoffed, "They won't wake until sunup." 

    Prin pointed to a bunch of scattered, enormous rocks which Lief now saw were not rocks but Kin, curled extremely tightly. 

    "I'm supposed to stay curled until they wake," Prin whined, pouting as she did. "But it's not _fair_. I have nothing interesting to dream of. I would rather play."

    Her family was probably right in making her sleep, given how dangerous the outside world was, but Lief couldn't help but sympathize. 

    "Why can't I leave the nursery?" Lief had often whined to Lyra in those happy early days when he was still in her care.  "It's not fair." 

   Lyra had always, of course, responded sensibly to this by scooping Lief up and assuring him, 

   "I know, but I'd get in trouble if I let you out, and you don't want that, do you, sweetie?"

   Eventually, of course, Lief was finally let out of the nursery, but not in the way he wanted to be. And indeed, for a good period of time, the rest of the old palace became merely a bigger, far less pleasant prison. And Fallow's response to Lief's desire to be let out was far, far crueler. 

   "Yes," Lief agreed, desperate to give Prin that childhood freedom he'd never had. "I'll play with you. But how about tag instead. This is my first time here, so I don't know the good hiding places." 

   "Okay!" Prin agreed. She then tapped him with her paw. 

    "Tag! You're it!" 

    And for a glorious hour, they ran around the spring, former assassin and innocent Kin, locked in a happy children's game. Just as Lief was about to catch her and tag her 'it', however, who should suddenly pounce on the poor Kin but a pair of horrible Grey Guards! 

    Lief immediately drew his sword. 

    "Let her go!" he cried. 

    The Grey Guards ignored him in favor of throwing a jacket around Prin's head and winding rope around the jacket. 

   "I mean it," Lief growled as he advanced on the guards and pointed his sword at the one winding Prin round with rope. "Let. Her. _Go_!" 

   The Grey Guards burst out laughing. 

   "Oh, someone wants to play _hero_ ," the first guard jeered. He took out his sling, loaded a blister into it, and pointed it at Lief. 

    "Let's see how heroic you are with this in your face!" the guard roared.

    Lief couldn't but wince at the sight of the blister; his pod, of course, had been equipped with the poisonous silver eggs just like every other. But he'd never, ever condoned the use of them; Lief had made it explicitly clear to his pod that anyone caught using a blister on the people of Del would be sent back to the Shadowlands. This command had not, of course, been well-received, but Lief liked to think it had at least been obeyed. 

     Because the screams of the old woman who he'd first seen the weapon demonstrated on continued to haunt his nightmares. And the expression on her face as she died in agony was seared into his brain forever. 

    And now, that very same weapon was going to end his life. 

    Except just then, he felt Barda's hand on his shoulder. 

    "Forgive my...son, good sirs," Lief heard Barda say to the Grey Guards. "He is...young...and...impulsive. I am sorry for any trouble he might have caused you. We'll be on our way." 

     Lief turned and glared at Barda. 

    "You're...you're not serious!" he cried. "We're not just going to leave her in the hands of those-" 

    But Barda had already grabbed Lief and begun dragging him away from the Grey Guards and into the trees. 

   "It's not worth dying over some dog, Lief," Barda whispered as he pulled Lief into the trees. 

   "She's not a dog," Lief hissed. "She's a Kin. And she's innocent!" 

   Barda sighed and exchanged a look with Jasmine and Endon.

   Endon shrugged. 

   "It would heartless to let them kill such an innocent creature," he agreed. "Go and get the blisters, Jasmine." 

   Without a word, Jasmine slipped away to retrieve the blisters. Lief's desire to rescue some dog was doubtless very foolish, but she'd be damned if she let Lief go up against two Grey Guards with only a sword. 

   Barda and Lief then began to sneak towards the spring, darting from tree to tree until they found where Prin was lying.

   "Pig for breakfast, Carn 5," the first guard crowed. "Nothing better!" 

   "It's not a pig," Carn 5 scoffed. "Look at its feet, you idiot." 

   "Well, whatever it is, it's fat. It'll be good eating." the first guard said. He went over to the spring and opened his waterskin. 

   "We smelled out this water just in time," he called out to Carn 5, shaking the empty waterskin for emphasis. 

   "No need to remind me, Carn 4," Carn 5 groaned. 

    Barda drew in a sharp breath.

    "They're members of the Carn pod," he gasped. "Like...like..." 

    "Like the ones that caught us in Rithmere," Lief replied, putting a hand on Barda's shoulder. "I know." 

    Did they somehow know what had happened to Carn 2 and 8? Had they picked up where those two had left off, to save the pod from disgrace? Lief hoped not; because if that was the case, it meant the Shadow Lord knew Lief had betrayed him. 

   Carn 5 went over to the water, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.

   "This place stinks of ticks," he complained. 

   "Not ours, though. Our two and their friend went straight on. The ugly one-the one they call Glock-he didn't come in here." 

    Lief sighed in relief. They weren't after him and his marks, thank goodness. And better yet, Doom had freed Glock and Neridah like he said he would. 

    The guards were both facing the spring-now was the perfect time to save Prin. Lief glanced over his shoulder. Where was Jasmine? Why wasn't she here with the blisters? 

    "We'll get them by nightfall," Carn 5 crowed, kneeling beside his companion and putting his own waterskin in the spring. "Them and whoever let them go. And we'll make that bastard sorry."

   "We'll have lots of fun with him," Carn 4 cackled.

     With that, they both bent down to drink, lapping up the water noisily. 

   Never mind, then. Lief had never needed blisters before; why start using them now?

   Ignoring Barda's restraining hand on his shoulder, Lief darted into the open, snatched Prin, and began dragging her away. 

   Prin, who apparently had been very conscious the whole time, then squealed in terror, causing the guards to immediately leap to their feet and whirl around, blisters at the ready. Seeing Lief bent over Prin, they snarled and rushed towards him. 

  "Lief! Run!" Barda cried. 

   But Lief was frozen in horror. For the Guards were screaming, staggering as their feet sprouted roots that snaked into the earth, tying them there. Their legs cleaved together, hardening into trunks. Then, once they were fully immobilized, their bodies began stretching towards the sky, pale leaves forcing their way through skin that was quickly transforming into bark.  And in moments, two new trees stood in their places. 

    Then, suddenly, Endon and Jasmine came running towards them. 

    "The rocks!" Jasmine cried. "The rocks are coming alive!" 

 

    Half an hour later, Lief, Barda, Jasmine, and Endon were sitting among a group of enormous Kin. Fili was staring at them with wide eyes from the safety of Jasmine's jacket. Prin had been made to climb into her mother's pouch, a fact which she was not happy about. 

     "You must stay curled until we awake!" her mother scolded. "How many times do we have to tell you? Those evil ones might have killed you, Little One!" 

     "They drank the water, Mother-I knew they would!" sulked Prin. 

     "Liar! You couldn't know that!" 

     "But...we drank the water also!" Barda cried, glancing from the Kin to the trees. 

     "Those who mean no harm can drink without harm," Prin chanted, as if repeating something she'd been taught. 

     "We knew you were of good heart when you drank from the spring and were unharmed," Prin's mother said to Barda. 

      _Good heart_...was Lief really of good heart? He was soft-hearted, that was for sure-but was that enough to qualify as being of _good_ heart. While he might not have meant harm while drinking from the spring, he _certainly_ had meant harm to Endon not all that long ago. And while he hadn't liked arresting certain rebels, he'd had no qualms about arresting nastier ones. And whether he'd liked it or not, sending them to the Place of Punishment certainly counted as "meaning harm" to them. 

      Did the Dreaming Spring only take into account current desires? If so, it was a lousy judge of good and evil.

      "Sure that you were no danger, we dreamed peacefully," Prin's mother continued. "But we never would have guessed our little one would be a danger to you in the morning. We are sorry."

      Barda and Endon bowed. 

      "It was our friend who helped the little one," Barda said, gesturing to Lief. "But for my part, it is a privilege to meet you. I never thought to see the Kin in my lifetime." 

      "Nor I," Endon agreed. "I thought the Kin were all extinct." 

      "We are not extinct," an old Kin standing behind Prin's mother said. "But we are few. Since we left our Mountain-" 

      "Dread Mountain!" Lief gasped, eyes wide with recognition. "You lived on Dread Mountain once! Why did you leave?" 

       The old Kin stopped, and looked at Barda and Endon. 

       "As you can see," Barda said with a smile, "We too have young ones to look after. Please forgive the interruption." 

        Lief glared at Barda. 

       "I'll have you know that sixteen years is a perfectly respectable age for a-" 

       Lief glanced at the Kin, and remembering his audience, corrected, 

      "For a member of my species!" 

      "The gnomes of Dread Mountain have always tried to hunt us," the old one continued. "But their arrows did not do us much harm. Our main dangers were Grey Guards and Vraals from the Shadowlands. But long ago, something changed..."

     His voice trailed off, and Prin's mother then picked up the story. 

     "The gnomes began using poison on their arrow tips," she said. "Deadly poison, which killed painfully and quickly. Many of us died. It was a terrible time. I was young then, but I still remember." 

     The other Kin then began whispering among themselves, for apparently they, too, remembered. 

      "So at last we realized we could stay on our Mountain no longer," the old one rumbled. "This grove used to be our winter home-a place to raise our young. Now we stay here all year long-and visit our mountain only in our dreams." 

      A sudden sadness swept over the group, causing a long, uncomfortable silence. 

     In a desperate attempt to cheer everyone up, Jasmine blurted out: 

     "I had a funny dream last night! I saw the man Doom. He was in a cave full of people. Neridah and Glock were there, alongside several others.Glock was eating soup, and he spilled it down his chin. I...I called to them, but they didn't hear me for some reason. It felt so real!" 

     The old Kin looked at Jasmine sadly. 

     "It was real, child." 

     He waved a paw at the spring. 

     "This is the Dreaming Spring. Whatever or whoever you picture in your mind when you drink, you visit in spirit when you sleep." 

     "We ourselves visit our Mountain every night," Prin's mother added. "It comforts us to see it. The Boolong trees grow thickly-far more than they did when we were there. We cannot eat the cones, but at least we are there." 

     "Not me!" Prin grumbled. "I can't go. I've never seen it. I've never been anywhere but here. So I have nothing to dream about." 

     Her mother bent over her, murmuring words of assurance. 

     "So...what I saw in my dream...it was real!" Jasmine gasped. 

     "It is good to know that Doom, Glock and Neridah have reached the Resistance stronghold in safety," Barda said, smiling as he did. "And now no guards will trouble." 

    "I...I dreamed of Sharn," Endon breathed. "She was alive, and well. And my son...I dreamed of him, and...he was _alive_ -and...had grown into a fine young man." 

    Lief sat in silence, numb with shock and desperately fighting back the urge to vomit. So...Dain really had convinced Sharn that he was her son. And, if what Endon said was any indication, he'd probably convinced Endon as well. 

 

 

      

 

 

 

     

    


	10. Doom of the Hills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify: Lauren is the wife Endon mentions in Chapter 2.

   The gathering of Kin broke up to feed on the grass. 

   "Grass is all we have," Prin's mother as she walked away. "It is nourishing enough, but still we long for the Boolong leaves and cones. The leaves of the trees here are not fit to eat. They are not alive." 

   Jasmine shuddered as she glanced around at the trees. 

   "No wonder they are silent," she said. "It's horrible to think of them standing here throughout the centuries, never growing, never changing." 

    When at last the rest of the Kin had departed, Barda turned to Endon and demanded, 

    "How is it possible that your son is alive? Didn't you say Fallow killed him?" 

      _He did_ , Lief thought, scowling.

       Endon shrugged. 

     "Apparently not," he said. "Apparently, he was raised by the Shadow Lord right alongside Lief. And in  the old palace, no less."

     Endon sighed and looked wistfully out into the distance. 

     "I can't believe it," he said. "All this time, I thought he was dead, and it turns out...he's not." 

     "I can't believe it either," Jasmine added. "Something about this whole thing seems...odd to me. Why would the Shadow Lord keep him alive? What use could he possibly have for your son?" 

     "Did you know about this, Lief?" Barda gasped.

     "No," Lief growled, unable to stomach this conversation any longer. "I didn't. Because it's a lie. The boy in Endon's dream _wasn't_ his son. It was a fellow Ol. One I know all too well." 

     The three of them all turned and stared at Lief. 

     "W-what?" Endon gasped. "But...but..." 

     "You dreamed of a young boy with delicate features talking to Sharn about how he was the long-lost heir, correct?" Lief asked. 

     Endon nodded. 

       "Y-yes," he stammered. "B-but-" 

       "I had that exact same dream," Lief explained, "Except that I know the boy who was in it. His name is Dain, and he's not a boy. He's a Grade 3 Ol, a non-defective one, and one whom I know for a _fact_ was ordered to infiltrate the rebels and pretend to be your son." 

      "And...how do you know this?" Endon asked, his eyes wide. 

     " Because he, the Shadow Lord, and I discussed it at length," Lief told him. "You'll be happy to know I protested this plan, but my opinion was, of course, ignored." 

    Endon sighed and hung his low in shame. 

     "How could I have been taken in so easily?" he groaned. "We didn't even _name_ him Dain. Sharn and I _never_ would been so obvious as to name him an anagram of Adin. We chose a much more sensible name." 

     Jasmine shrugged. 

     "Honestly, it's not all that surprising," she said. " _Of course_ the Shadow Lord would have a fake heir set up in case the Belt was ever complete again. Easiest way to get his hands on the Belt so he can destroy it for good." 

     Barda put a hand on Endon's shoulder.

     "Your Majesty, don't feel so bad," he said. "Your first son might be dead, but you are still alive. You still have time. Someday, when you are king, you will have more children-"

      Endon shook his head. 

      "You don't understand. I...I've tried to have kids again, with....with my second wife, Lauren," he explained. "But...we haven't had any luck there, either. My...first son-well, in all honesty, he might very well end up my _only_ son." 

      Barda shook his head. 

      "I don't know about that," he said. "I cannot predict the future. But I do know that your son, had he lived, would want a free Deltora. And the only way to get that is to move forward."

      "I agree," Lief joined in. "And with that in mind, we might as well say our goodbyes to the Kin before we leave." 

      A wicked smile grew across Barda's face. 

     "No, actually, we don't. Why walk, when we can fly?" 

       ***

       After a few hours of Barda half discussing his plan, and half convincing the Kin to agree to it, three female Kin, Merin, Ailsa, and Bruna, agreed to carry the travelers over to Dread Mountain. Prin, of course, desperately wanted to come with them.

       "Let me go with you to the Mountain!" she pleaded. "Then I will have seen it to, and can go with you in my dreams!"

       "No, Little One, you are too precious," Ailsa crooned. " But you can dream of us. Then you will see where we are, and what we are doing? Will that not be as good as coming yourself?" 

       This did little to assure Prin, and in fact probably strengthened her disappointment, much to the dismay of everyone around. 

        Eventually, Endon and Barda climbed into Merin's pouch, Lief into Ailsa's, and Jasmine into Bruna's, and off they went. 

        The view from above the earth was breathtakingly beautiful, in a way that Lief had never thought a view could be. There were plenty of views from the various windows of the palace, of course, but all of those were of an ugly, miserable city, filled with equally miserable people. There was never a point in standing at the window and looking at the city for any period of tie

        This, though, was a view worth taking in. The earth was a patchwork of trees and winding paths, woven, it seemed, with the skill of a master craftsman. Ahead lay Dread Mountain, which, although hazy, looked quite large and ominous. And behind it was the mountain range marking the border with the Shadowlands. 

         The Shadowlands. Lief's homeland, where he'd first been made, was so close now, closer than it had ever been in his entire life. It was also the place where he might have been shipped off to die, and where the Shadow Lord had swept in from to cause almost all of Deltora's problems. 

        "How long will it take to reach the Mountain?" Lief asked Ailsa, swallowing as he did. 

        "We will have to stop at sunset," Aisla told him, "But if the weather remains good, we should be there by tomorrow!" 

        _Tomorrow_! Another day, and they would eventually be on their way to restoring the fifth gem. Another gem, to help end the Shadow Lord's rule. 

        If the gnomes didn't shoot the Kin down, that was. If that happened, the four of them would all surely crash to the ground and die. And then the Grey Guards will eventually get their hands on the Belt, and all will be for nothing. 

        _Best not to think about that_ , Lief decided. 

        After a long day of flying, the sun eventually set, and the Kin began to circle, lower and lower, until at last they settled down to the ground in a small forest. 

        "We call this place Kinrest," Merin explained. "There is water here, and food, and shelter. Long ago, this place was the resting point on our journeys from the Mountain to the grove." 

        It was a lovely place to rest, indeed, it felt like a forest from one of his nursery's storybooks. A small stream ran through the place, with thick ferns clustered at its edges. Enormous trees shot up to the sky, and Lief could hear the sounds of a waterfall coming from the distance.  

       The Kin themselves seemed equally in awe of the beauty of it-marveling at how the trees and ferns had grown since their youth. The companions, for their part, were happy to sit by the stream and watch. Except, of course, for Jasmine, who was carefully listening to the rustling of the trees.

      "What do they say, Jasmine?" Lief asked out of mild curiosity. "Are we safe? Do they think I'm a nasty abomination to be killed?" 

     "No, they have no desire to kill you," Jasmine told him. "And yes, I think we are safe. The trees are mostly just excited to see the Kin again." 

     Lief's brows shot up in confusion. 

     "Really? But don't the Kin eat their leaves? If I were a tree, I wouldn't be fond of people who did that." 

      "Leaves are not as important to trees as one might think," Jasmine told him. "They merely help the trees drink in sunlight. It is the roots they care about more. And the trees are many hundred of years old and remember the Kin fondly." 

       Jasmine frowned and glanced down at the river. 

       "I also sense a sadness, and fear. Something bad happened here. Blood was spilled, someone they loved died." 

       Lief's eyes widened. 

      "When?" he demanded. 

        Jasmine shrugged. 

      "Who knows? Trees like these don't speak of time like we do. It could have happened one year ago or twenty; it's all the same to them."

       Jasmine shivered. 

      "I think it would be safe to light a fire," she said. "The trees will surely hide the light." 

     The others agreed, and soon they were crouching over a small blaze, eating their rations for the night. When they had eaten their fill, the Kin eventually came back, bouncing with joy as they did. 

     "You'll never guess what we've found!" Ailsa cried, smiling as she did. 

      "Why? What, exactly, have you found?" Endon asked. 

      "The cave we used to play in as young ones," Merin said breathlessly. "We were exploring it...and then we found some things in it. Very curious things. Do you want to see?" 

      Endon shrugged. 

      "Why not?" 

      And with that, the Kin led the travelers into a cave, whereupon they immediately discovered what appeared to be supplies for living in the caves; a mug, some pots and pans, a cluster of old sleeping blankets, a bundle of even older clothes, and a chair made of fallen branches. A dead torch was also affixed to the cave wall.

       "Someone lived here," Endon murmured as he went to pick up of one of the blankets.

      He dropped the blanket, a cloud of dust rising as he did. 

       "But hardly recently." 

       "There's something else, too," Ailsa said. "A stone marker of sorts." 

      Ailsa then led the travelers back to the cave entrance and parted a couple of ferns to reveal an upright, mossy stone.

      "There's writing on it," Bruna murmured. 

      And indeed, upon further examination, the companions found these words carved onto the stone: 

        _Here lies Doom of the Hills, who sheltered a friendless stranger and so met his death. He will be avenged._

 _"_ Odd name to find on a grave," Barda murmured. "And the message is even more peculiar." 

        "It's the same name Endon's friend used in the Rithmere Games," Lief mused. "Do you think they knew each other?" 

       "Yes," Jasmine said. "I think they did. And I think he killed the real Doom." 

       "What? Why would you think that?!" Endon cried. 

       "He drugged Lief and attacked us in the middle of the night," Jasmine snapped. "And he keeps refusing to admit that you're his friend, no matter how much you try. Forgive me if I don't trust him based on that evidence."

      "Up until recently my goal was to kill you all," Lief pointed out. "And you eventually learned to trust _me._ I think Doom's crimes pale in comparison to that." 

      "You're different," Jasmine insisted. "You were only ordered to kill _Endon._ And you've never actually... _tried_ to kill any of us. At least... not since we met you. Also, you've saved our lives a _lot_." 

       "Jarred saved us too," Endon argued. "We would've been shipped to the Shadowlands if it weren't for him." 

       "How do you know he wasn't _ordered_ to rescue us?" Jasmine countered. 

       "Ordered? By whom?" Lief asked. 

        "The Shadow Lord, obviously," Jasmine replied. 

        "Jarred was the first person to warn me about the Rule," Endon insisted. "He helped me and my wife escape the palace the day of the invasion. He would _never_ work for the Shadow Lord." 

        "It's been a long time since that happened," Jasmine pointed out, "And he doesn't seem to like you all that much. _Anything_ could have happened to make him change his mind." 

        Endon and Jasmine glared at each other for quite a long while, while Lief, Barda, and the three Lin looked on helplessly. 

        Eventually Merin broke the silence with a little cough. 

        "We are sorry our find has caused you pain," she said. "It is time for us to curl. We will leave early in the morning." 

        With that, the three Kin moved on out of the cave, with the travelers following after them. The Kin eventually curled up, looking like enormous rocks, and the travelers then huddled into their sleeping blankets and began to sleep. 

       But sleep eluded Lief, for Jasmine's words had given him pause. Was he really so trustworthy that his previous mission and allegiance no longer mattered? If so, then why wasn't Doom? He had actively saved the companions from death just as Lief had, and had not, as far as any of them were aware, been explicitly ordered to kill them.

     And to Lief's knowledge, there were no allies of the Shadow Lord that went by the name of Doom. Granted, the Shadow Lord had kept a great many secrets from Lief-such as the truth about how early he'd been planning his conquest of Deltora, for one-but the Shadow Lord had never lied to him about who was and wasn't on their side.  Everybody who the Shadow Lord said was an enemy, had _been_ an enemy, without exception. And everyone who the Shadow Lord said was an ally, _was_ their ally. And never, not once, had the Shadow Lord mentioned anybody by the name of Doom being an ally.

      Of course, he'd never mentioned that the giant snake Reeah was an ally, either. Or Mother Brightly. Or Thaegan, for that matter. And all three of them had been working for the Shadow Lord. It was possible-just possible-that Doom might be part of some greater plot. 

     But would the Shadow Lord really scheme to save Endon from a deadly gladiatoral arena? Highly unlikely. Of course, that could also be said of the Shadow Lord disguising an incompetent Ol as a communication crystal so that it could lie in wait and kill Lief once Endon had been killed.

      Which _had_ actually happened; right before Lief had been first caught by Jasmine, he'd been forced to kill Caspian in self-defense, who had inexplicably disguised himself as Lief's communication crystal. 

      _I have plans within plans_ , Lief's father was often prone to saying. Lief didn't doubt it; the Shadow Lord was clever and sly, and had the power to do any number of things. Otherwise, Deltora would be a free nation. 

    _It doesn't matter_ , Lief told himself. _Endon refused to join him, and we didn't tell him anything of our plans_. 

    _But Dain could have_ , a sneaky little voice inside his head pointed out. _Dain knew what your mission was, he undoubtedly recognized you._  

    In a desperate bid for sleep, Lief once again opened Endon's little book. An action which would do little to assuage his fears. 

    _The first to leave the belt aside was Adin’s grandson, King Elstred, who in his middle years grew fat with good living and found the steel cut sadly into his belly,_ the book read. _Elstred’s chief advisor soothed his fears, saying that the belt need only be worn on great occasions._

     Upon reading that, Lief recalled something Endon had said a while back: _there's been a line of treacherous chief advisors going all the way back to King Elstred._

     Up until now, Lief had had no idea when, precisely, King Elstred had lived. He'd assumed Elstred had had to be a king sometime in the past, but how far back, exactly, had never been clear. He could have lived at any point from Adin's time to the time of Endon's predecessor. 

    But now,  knowing that Elstred was _Adin's grandson_...the Shadow Lord had not let up for a moment after his defeat at Adin's hands, had he? Somehow, he'd wormed an agent into the royal court from Deltora's very earliest days as a nation. And if there really _had_ been a long lien of treacherous advisors going back to Elstred...

      Lief had always known his father was cunning, but now Lief realized he had grossly underestimated just _how_ cunning the man truly was. Not only that, he'd also underestimated the sheer amount of patience his father had, as well as failed to realize that the Shadow Lord was an complete master of deception. 

       Even in the best case scenario,  where Endon succeeded in completing the Belt and driving out the Shadow Lord, and he and Lauren eventually _did_ have a child together, Deltora would still be doomed to fall again. Because the Shadow Lord could just have another agent infiltrate the royal court in either the time of Endon's grandchild, or hell, simply Endon's _next_ child, and once again the chain of events that had led to the fall of the monarchy would begin again. 

       It was with these disquieting thoughts that Lief eventually fell asleep.

***

       The group set off once more an hour before dawn, with the Kin flying extremely fast. Their time at Kinrest seemed to have revitalized the creatures, filled them with new energy and purpose. 

       "It is the stream water," Ailsa explained to Lief. "For the first time in many years, I have had no dreams. Or at least, none of the special dreams granted by the spring. I feel young again." 

        "So did I," called Bruna. "Although I did wake up in the middle of the night though. I thought the rest of the tribe had followed us." 

         Bruna chuckled. 

         "I was wrong, of course." 

         They reached the Mountain by midday

        

       


End file.
